Light Me A Lantern
by LittlestTrainWreck
Summary: Picking up the pieces after being separated for three years isn't as easy as it may seem. A quiet, burning kind of chaos sweeps through Feudal Japan, and it's going to take a lot more than a fairy tale ending to put things back together. They defeated a man who would become the Devil. Can they survive a man who would become a God?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright, let me explain this bullshit.

I always really loved Inuyasha. I mean, as it ended and I went to High School and now University, it was never at the forefront of my Fandom Mind, but it was always there, and every once in a while it would sneak up on me and pull me back in. It's just something I can't and don't want to shake. But I feel like a lot of the former following is in the same boat on the same time, just a little farther out at sea. So I thought I might try to reel them back in, because it's quite a lonely little boat I've got.

So, I'm picking up from where the story left off. Sort of. Let me get one thing straight, this is /not/ about the domestic, peaceful life after the Jewel. I think the summary clears that up. What I'm really doing is going through a lot of the unanswered questions I've had for years and twisting them into this story. What about Kaede's story and the missing 50 years? What happened to demons in the Modern Era? How does the reincarnation from Kikyo to Kagome work?

Along with the story is the blog** Inuyashasforest. tumblr .com** is where I'm going to answer questions, share art, music, and thoughts about the story, and just generally interact with the community I'm trying to raise from the dead.

Anyway, that's the general idea of this bullshit. Basically all I can say now is enjoy!

(Sidenote; there is a character death within this chapter, just for a fair warning. It's what kicks off the start of this new chapter. Sorry in advance for any broken feels.)

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Kaede was singing an old song to the Gods out in the garden when she woke up that morning. The bamboo mat pressed grooves into her skin, and although it wasn't exactly a modern mattress, it had brought an odd sort of comfort ever since she returned. She remembered sleeping better the night she made it through the well again than she had in three years.

_"Are you gonna stay the night? I mean, I know you don't like being cooped up insi-"_

_"You kidding? I'm not turning my back on you for a second, you might fall into another dimension again."_

_"I guess old habits die hard."_

_"Not funny."_

_"Oh, it was a little funny."_

Kagome yawned and sat up, stretching her arms over her head and curling her toes under the stiff blanket. She had half a mind to lay back down and bask in the early morning sunlight streaming in from the door, but she didn't want to leave Kaede outside on her own. She could hear the sound of shifting earth and roots giving away from the garden, and although Kaede was a stubborn, strong woman, she wasn't going to last heavy work like that for much longer.

Kagome washed her face in the basin of water in the corner and rubbed a light oil through her hair to keep it clean. The morning routine was familiar to home; the tools were a little different, but it was the same practice, and she was just glad she was lucky enough to be able to wash up like this so often. It was expected that a Miko be clean, even a Miko-in-training. Slipping into her flowing red hakama and white kimono, she pushed her arms through the cuts in the shoulders and tied the sleeves behind her back to keep the heavy fabric off her arms. That certainly wasn't expected of a Miko, but the sun was already hot and the air already humid, so she figured she could get away with it.

Before long, Kagome was stepping out into the dim morning light, adjusting the straw hat on her head so she could see clearly. With the pristine, crisp air it was hard to believe that this little village would one day become part of Tokyo. There certainly wasn't any air like this in the city, or most of modern Asia for that matter. Picking up her wicker basket, she rounded the hut to the fenced garden. "Good morning, Kaede!" She cheered.

"Good morning, Kagome." The old woman returned with a smile from the shade of a tree on the other side of the fence. Kagome faultered for a moment. She'd assumed it was Kaede in the garden, but as she could see, she had no wicker basket and was sitting comfortable under the tree. So who was it working in the garden?

Kagome turned toward the garden to see Inuyasha bent over a row of sprouts, his hair pulled back by a thick cord and his shirts hanging over the fence. With the full wicker basket balanced in one arm, he stood up straight and wiped his glistening forehead with the back of his arm. "Morning."

_"Did you ever try?"_

_"Of course I tried."_

Kagome smiled at him. "Morning."

Reaching into his wicker basket, Inuyasha tossed her a few root vegetables. "Breakfast."

She dropped her wicker basket at her side so she could use both hands to catch the vegetables, ignoring Inuyasha's scoff at her inability to 'catch anything but a cold'. "You're actually helping out in the garden?" She teased. The last time he'd been forced into the chore, at least when she was around, he'd just pulled every single plant out of the garden and dumped it on Kaede's floor. The Miko had been so livid she'd chased him around with a rake every time she saw him for three days before finally making him replant the entire garden.

"Yeah, well, someone's gotta force the old lady to take a break. Don't sit there for too long, you might decompose right into the ground." Inuyasha grinned, bringing the full basket over to the subject of his mocking.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome protested, hands perched dangerously on her hips. She didn't have a chance to reprimand him before Kaede pulled a cucumber out of the basket and whacked him over the head without looking up from her embroidery.

Inuyasha pouted and rubbed his head. "Y'know, that was a lot cuter when you were eight years old."

"You cannot fool me, Inuyasha. That did not hurt. Your skull is much too thick for that." Kaede replied.

"Hey!"

Despite the obviously earth shattering blow to his ego, Kagome couldn't help but laugh, and from the looks of it he couldn't either. She watched the way the corners of his lips tugged up and his eyes shined with the smile he hid. Before either of them knew it, their eyes met, and for a moment neither of them breathed.

_"Did you ever think about me?"_

_"Every day."_

Leaving the Hanyou to his sore ego, Kagome hopped over the fence to join Kaede under the shade of the tree, kneeling in the cool grass. "How are you feeling today? Does your back still hurt?"

Kaede shrugged, still concentrated on her embroidery. "Aye, these old bones are finally giving out on me."

"You know," Kagome began with feigned sing-song to her tone, "if you'd just let me bring you to my time, there are Doctors that could heal you right away. You're really not that old where I come from, humans can live almost a hundred years if they're healthy. My grandfather is about the same age as you, and he's still as sprightly as ever." She thought about it for a moment. "Actually, maybe you should stay here. My grandfather might enjoy the company of a beautiful woman far too much."

Kaede laughed, the sound deep and warm in her chest. "You flatter me far too much, Kagome. I appreciate your offer, as I have every time you suggested it, but I must decline. I do not doubt that your world has many medicinal wonders, but it is not my world."

Kagome sighed, blowing a piece of hair dangling in her eyes back into place. "Fine."

"I will content myself to using the medicine of my time." Kaede said resolutely. "And what, Kagome, are the herbs used in medicine for a sore back?"

"Salvia Root, Reishi Mushroom, and Eucommia Bark ." Kagome recited proudly.

Kaede smiled, finally looking up from her embroidery. "Aye. Now, get to it!" She reached over and smacked her knee with her fabric.

Kagome laughed and waved the makeshift weapon away. "Okay, okay! I'll have it done in a few hours. Until then, take it easy."

Kaede waved her off concern, picking up her needle and her song from where she left off.

_"Flickering lanterns, hanging from the Tree_  
_Let them guide your way back to me_  
_Flickering lanterns, call you back to me_  
_On the branches of the Sacred Tree"_

Her aged and hoarse voice had nearly faded by the time she made it to the middle of the rice fields, walking along the narrow paths between plots of swampy water. Basket balanced on her hip, she couldn't help but close her eyes as a breeze rolled through. The relief was more than welcome from what was looking up to be a hot morning. The sun was still just breaking over the horizon, the hazy pink dawn seeping over the hills. In the village, someone was playing a flute, and in the trees the crickets were still singing. It was almost perfectly tranquil.

"Inuyasha, when are you planning to stop following me?" Sure enough, finally glancing over her shoulder she saw him perched in a tree at the edge of the bank, trying to look completely nonchalant.

"I was not following you."

"Was so."

Inuyasha grunted and leaped down from the tree, landing deftly beside her. "I made sure Kaede will take it easy and stay inside today." He explained, hands stuffed in his haori sleeves as he tried to look indifferent.

Kagome turned to him with an arched brow. "That doesn't explain why you're following me."

Inuyasha shrugged, looking past her and toward the village, his ears twitching with every note of the distant flute. "Thought you could use some help with... whatever you're doing."

Kagome smiled and shook her head to spare his ego her laughter. "Sure. Come on."

Picking up their pace from where Kagome left off, the two of them walked toward the forest. Once again, but for the crickets and flute, the morning was completely silent. Neither of them spoke, and neither of them caught when the other was glancing at them.

_"Did you miss it here?_

_"Yeah."_

By the time they made it to the forest the morning fog had spilled from the hills and completely drowned it in beams of light between the trees. Kagome yawned and stretched her unoccupied arm over her head, still not quite fully awake. "Alright, since you're here, you can get me the bark. It takes forever for me to peel enough off. The mushrooms are easy enough to find, it's only the root that'll be a problem." They walked into a bright little clearing, where Kagome usually had the best luck finding what she needed. She set her basket at her feet and straightened up to find Inuyasha looking around at the surrounding trees.

"I'll have no problem getting some measly bark." He proclaimed arrogantly.

Kagome shrugged and turned on her heal to start looking for the mushrooms. "I'm sure you won't. It's the sap you'll have problems with." She teased.

Inuyasha scoffed, proving his bravado in the face of evil tree sap as he leapt into the canopy of tree branches overhead. Kagome turned just in time to see a flash of red disappear into the leaves. The sound of him rustling around in search for the right tree faded in and out of her attention as she made her way around the clearing. Before long, she was crawling around on her hands and knees, looking under rocks and fallen logs, until she found a small patch just past the clearing and into the thicker part of the forest. Gently harvesting the mushrooms she needed and leaving behind enough for them to continue growing, Kagome carried them back to the clearing and dropped them in her basket. She had just been about to call out to Inuyasha to see if he had any luck when he dropped from the trees and landed on the opposite side of the basket. It didn't take long to see what he looked so angry about. "I warned you about the sap!"

Along with bark chippings, Inuyasha had returned with his hands covered in sap. "Shut up." He grumbled, trying and failing to drop the bark into the basket with it sticking to his skin. He growled in frustration and tried to pick it off, but the moment he touched it with one hand, it stuck to the other, and so on until his face was practically red. Kagome's face was red too, but for an entirely different reason; she was laughing so hard she could hardly breath.

"Inuyasha!" She laughed, reaching out and taking his wrists to hold him still. He stopped, his eyes snapping up to stare at her questioningly.

_"Did you miss me?"_

_"More than you could know ."_

Kagome let go of his wrists a little too quickly. "Let's just go down to the river and cool off for a bit. The root is going to take a while to find anyway, we might as well."

Inuyasha scoffed in that oh-so-tough manner that never fooled her. "Fine."

The river was just a short walk down a decline from the clearing. Kagome didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed when Inuyasha complained that she was taking too long, and that he'd carry her if he didn't have this crap on his hands. So she just nodded and smiled and thought about how not long at all it had been since been since she had returned, and how in somewhat it felt like she had never left. It was the same comforting familiarity as the bamboo mat, simple things like walking through the forest with Inuyasha and spending the morning looking for herbs.

She had been back for a few weeks now. It was hard to keep track without a modern calender, and while she could easily fix that problem by making a trip down the well and back into her world, she tried to make her trips few and far between. Her family understood and didn't resent her for it; who knew if the well would close again? She'd lived on just fine for the past three years, never wallowed in self pity for days on end or cried herself to sleep, but it was no secret that she'd never been truly happy. They'd rather rarely see her and see her happy, than every day and longing for a world she couldn't touch.

But she had gone back once, because there were just some modern comforts she couldn't live without.

As they walked down the bank to the river, Kagome was already eagerly untying her kimono sleeves from behind her back. She stopped by a log fallen against back at a steep incline and shed both her kimino and hakama, leaving her only in a bra and underwear; her modern luxuries. Not exactly a bathing suit, but it would work just fine and she was comfortable around her hanyou companion. Without nothing but a gleeful smile to Inuyasha, she ran to the riverbed and jumped in a tight ball just to splash him on the shore.

"Hey!" He complained.

Breaching the water, Kagome flipped her hair behind her, combing her fingers through the raven locks while waving Inuyasha over with her other hand. "Come on!"

Inuyasha made no attempt to hide the way he rolled his eyes at her, but began slipping out of his haori anyway. Kagome had just contented herself to paddling around in the shallow of the water when suddenly she was met with a tidal wave caused by a hanyou in his fundoshi. Sputtering the water out of her nose, she wiped her hand over her face and tried not to laugh as she glared at him. "Inuyasha!" She protested for the second time that day.

Inuyasha burst up for air and proceeded to shake out his hair, just because he knew how much it bothered her. Kagome couldn't stop herself from laughing, holding her hands up in a feeble attempt to protest herself. Once he decided she'd had enough, laughing too hard to continue anyway, Kagome pushed her hands through the water to splash him back.

Inuyasha tried in vain to shield himself with his arm, only to be rewarded with a face full of water. "Alright, that's it!"

"Inuyasha, don't you dare!"

It was too late. The hanyou swooped her off her feet and held her over his head with ease, even while she kicked and tried to fight her way out of his grasp. He took only two steps out into deeper water before tossing her back into the river. Her squeal was swallowed by the water. When she came back up, she leaped at Inuyasha, throwing herself at him with all her weight and tackling him into the water.

The moment the bubbles cleared and the world stopped spinning, it was just the two of them; eyes opened and uninterrupted, staring at each other with floating hair and beams of light dancing on the stony riverbed, Kagome with her arms around Inuyasha's neck, and Inuyasha with his hands hovering over her waist.

_"Did you ever give up?_

_"Never."_

_"Did you ever feel like you should?"_

_"Yes."_

Kagome was the first to come up for air, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Inuyasha came up after. "It's so nice out." She commented as she looked up at the noon sky and kicked back into the water.

"It's alright." Inuyasha shrugged.

"Grouch." Kagome fired back, looking back over her shoulder at him. She fully expected a witty retort, a scowl, or even a face full of water, but it was immediately obvious that his attention was elsewhere. He looked to the other side of the river, brows furrowed and ears twitching.

Kagome mirrored his frown, letting her body dip back into the water and her toes touch the rocks on the bottom. "Inuyasha?"

"It's nothing. Just thought I heard someone, must've been a villager singing." He shrugged it off, shaking his hands through his soaked hair.

Kagome chewed at the corner of her lip, not quite buying that explanation. He'd be able to tell if what he heard was just a villager in the forest, he wouldn't have even paused. But, if it was danger, he'd know in an instant too, so she supposed it was nothing to worry about. Leaning back into the water, Kagome floated on her back up the stream and closer to Inuyasha. It wasn't until their arms barely brushed together in the passing water that she felt it. All at once overwhelmed, she splashed against an invisible enemy that seemed to force her for a moment out of her own body, until she was suddenly stilled by steadying hands dragging her up from the water.

"What the hell was that about?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, his words gruff but concern clear in his eyes.

"Do you feel that?" Kagome rasped, coughing against the water in her throat.

"I don't feel anything."

Kagome's eyes snapped to the forest where she felt the powerful energy emanating from, the same direction Inuyasha had been staring in. That was enough of a coincidence for her. "We should check it out."

"You think?" But despite his annoyed tone, he walked behind her to the shore, ready to catch her should she faulter again. The two of them quickly slipped back into their clothes, knowing that the morning heat and breeze would dry them off eventually. As soon as they were both dressed, Inuyasha wrapped his arm around Kagome's waist and leaped across the river to the bed on the other side. Taking his hand before they even touched the ground, Kagome took Inuyasha's hand and tugged him in the direction she was being drawn to. This side of the river seemed to be denser, the foliage thicker and the trees closer together. Even the early morning mist hadn't faded in the cool shade.

The two of them stumbled through the forest, both on foot despite the hanyou's ability to carry them faster than a human could even hope to run. The force pulling Kagome was too piercing and delicate to follow at that speed. It wasn't long before she faultered to a stop again. "Do you hear that?" She asked, realizing too late that she probably sounded stupid. Inuyasha heard everything.

"Yes and no." He answered, taking her by surprise. "It's like-"

"You hear it in your head." Kagome finished for him in understanding.

Inuyasha nodded, looking toward ta break of light in the dark forest ahead of them. "Someone singing." She took his hand again, but let him lead this time. His back was tight and ears alert, meaning he was deep into protective mode. Whatever was happening, he didn't like it.

Kagome blinked through the blinding light as they entered the break in the trees, feeling Inuyasha's hand tense in hers. When she could finally see again, her breath was drawn from her lungs, chest tight. She didn't know how she didn't recognize the path and surrounding forest, but they had entered from a different direction. Still, it almost hurt to know she didn't recognize the area.

Goshinboku, the Sacred Tree, towered over them just as she remembered. She hadn't been here since she returned. She always felt somewhat apprehensive about going back, like something would be too different and startling, and now that she was here she knew she was right. As strange as the energy emanating from the tree was, though, it wasn't as strange as the spirit that sat in its shade.

A young woman in a Miko's kimono and hakama sat embroidering under the permanent marking on the back where Inuyasha had slept for fifty years, either oblivious or undisturbed by their presence.

_"Flickering lanterns, hanging from the Tree_  
_Let them guide your way back to me_  
_Flickering lanterns, call you back to me_  
_On the branches of the Sacred Tree"_

Her translucent lips didn't move, but the voice swirled around her and out to them. Kagome and Inuyasha watched her, frozen as she lifted her head to look at them. The uncanny resemblance to Kagome and even more so her successor Kikyo made Inuyasha take a step back, his hand tightening in hers. The young woman smiled at them for a long moment, before standing gracefully and disappearing into the trunk of the tree. The song continued after she vanished, a hum on the wind that soon blew away.

Kagome was the first to break the heavy silence that followed. "Hey!" She exclaimed, dashing forward to where the woman had been sitting. "Salvia root!" Dropping her basket to her side, she pulled a few of the roots from the ground, dusted the dirt off, and dropped them inside. "Who do you think she was?" She asked wistfully.

"Probably just some stupid Forest Spirit." Inuyasha scoffed. "They're all over the place out here, especially now that Naraku isn't an issue. Now come on. We've got what we need, and Kaede said she'd make lunch."

"Alright, Mr. Demons-Don't-Need-As-Much-Food-As-You-Weakass-Humans." Kagome teased, balancing her basket on her hip again. "We should make it back in twenty- hey!" She yelped in surprise as Inuyasha picked her up and practically tossed her onto his back, taking off through the forest and back to the river before she could complain. She could just barely hear him laughing over the wind in her ears, but the sound was like music.

The river flowed right back to the village and spilled into the rice paddies, a faster trip than the well worn path that lead to Goshinboku. The path was more convenient on foot, but traveling by hanyou was like comparing a scooter to a Sport car. It was only a few minutes until Inuyasha skidded to a stop in front of the old Miko's hut.

"Kaede!" Kagome chirped as Inuyasha reached ahead of her and pulled the bamboo mat door back. "We got the herbs! I'll have the medicine done by dinner, I just can't remember if you have to boil and crush the Reishi-... Kaede?"

Inuyasha could smell it the moment he opened the door, his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach as Kagome continued rambling happily. He let the door fall back into place, swaying gently in the breeze. Everything else in the hut was far too still. Kagome's basket bounced harmlessly on the foor as it slipped from her hands, herbs falling into the dying embers of the fire and smothering whatever life was still left in the room. He didn't know whether to clench his first or reach out to Kagome's trembling shoulder. If he hadn't been so caught up in the moment, fooling around with her, he would have smelt it just a moment earlier, he could have prevented her from seeing this.

"No, no, no, no." Kagome breathed, breaking the silent calm before the storm as she crashed to her knees by Kaede's too still body. The old woman was laying slumped over on her mat, her skin without colour and her chest without movement. "No!" Kagome sobbed, drawing her hand back from her cold cheek. "No, please! Kaede!"

Kagome didn't know when she lost it, but she knew that she couldn't breath. Hunched over Kaede, her body shook with the force of her sobs, her broken voice echoing out into the serene quiet of the village as she sobbed over and over that she was sorry. She was so sorry, she should have come back sooner, she should have made the medicine sooner, she should have brought her to her world, she should have saved her.

"Kagome, calm down!" Inuyasha's voice cracked in her ear, his arms wrapping around her from behind and pulling her off of Kaede's body before she even realize he was there.

"I could have saved her!" Kagome sobbed turning into him and pounding her fists against his chest all at once. "You- you never should have left her! You never should have left her alone!" Eventually Kagome's screaming gave out into anguished cries, the overwhelming guilt and loss sobbed against Inuyasha's chest. He held her like he hadn't since her first night back, when they had sat in this very hut alone for hours, with the fire crackling and hesitant questions murmured back and forth.

His compassion and tenderness as he gently rocked her and ran his hands through her hair would surprise her every time she looked back at this memory for years to come. But maybe it was because he was silently crying too, face buried against the top of her head to hide his tear stained cheeks.

Music had followed them everywhere that day, but there was no music that night.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Oops, finger slipped.

Just a few quick endnotes.

The italicized dialogue is 'hesitant questions' from the first night back, sort of like an active memory. Who's saying what is supposed to be vague, so it could be either of them asking any of the questions or answering.  
The Italicized lyrics are Kaede's song.

And don't forget to check out the companion blog **Inuyashasforest. tumblr .com**!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, just a few short notes this time!

The beginning is a little information heavy, but for good reason. I didn't want to Wax Poetic about Kaede's funeral and the days immediately following. 1) Because I don't know anything about Shinto funeral customs besides what I've found on the internet, 2) Because it cheapens the reality of her death, 3) Because It would take too long to get into the story and the reason for her death, and 4) Because no one wants to read or write about 50 days of mourning.

As for Inuyasha being Buddhist, I don't think it was ever really mentioned in the manga or Anime, but it was mentioned in an interview with Richard Ian Cox, and it sort of makes sense. I can't imagine Inuyasha would want much to do with Kami, being a hanyou and all. Not really sure how that would work out.

A certain confrontation in this chapter was inspired partly by a youtube gaming video called "A Fireman Saved My Life." If you want to laugh for a few hours, go check it out.

And finally, when reading this first part of the chapter, I highly suggest you listen to the Rain Generator on MyNoise .Net, and Lantern by Clogs. The Song is where I got the inspiration for the scene and the title, and hell, the rain is just pretty.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It had been a week since Inuyasha had carried Kagome on his back up the hill outside the village to Miroku and Sango's home. The news was given in broken whispers and the rest of the night was spent in solomn quiet, apart from their newborn son Mamoru's occasional crying. Miroku sent out word to a Shinto Priest just a few miles away the next morning to take care of the funeral, since Kagome wasn't ready to make the preparations on her own. Her training wasn't finished, but that was the last thing on their minds. The loss of the wise and caring old woman took a heavy tole on them all.

The day before Kaede's wake, Inuyasha made the journey to the Fox Demon monastery to give Shippo the news. As Shippo told Kagome, he was surprisingly careful about telling him of Kaede's death, and understanding of his grief. He wasn't exactly touchy-feely about it, but he didn't push him away when Shippo curled up against him and cried. They returned to the village together the next day.

The funeral came and went. Kaede was cremated on a pyre and her ashes placed in an urn next to her sister's robbed grave. Kagome and the villagers took part in the small rituals, while Miroku and Inuyasha, being Buddhists, watched respectfully and shared in their mourning. The village was quiet, and for days, neither Kagome or Inuyasha said a word.

That was all that was left of it now. Cold and distant facts, a story that couldn't hope to convey the loss of their centre stone, the roots that connected them together.

Late after dinner that evening, Miroku and Sango decided to take the opportunity to finally explain what had happened to their daughters Ren and Sayuri. Inuyasha was gone, probably blowing off steam somewhere in the forest, and so was Kagome left completely alone. She didn't mind though. It was a good chance to deal with her feelings of failing Kaede, and she knew she couldn't ignore them forever.

Kagome sat on a stone on the top of the hill and looked over the village that was now hers to watch over. The flickering firelights shining through the huts were slowly dimming as the people inside fell asleep and left them to burn out. From up there she could just barely see the modest shrine behind Kaede's hut, the moonlight glinting off the new and polished gravestone. But with her luck, it wasn't long before the moonlight was smothered by the thick clouds looming overhead, and it began to rain. Kagome picked up the hem of her hakama and ran through the grass, ducking her head against the pinprick raindrops pelting her skin until she stumbled under the shelter of the porch. Once safe, she looked down at herself and groaned. Her hair and clothing were damp, clinging to her skin with glistening droplets, and would take hours to dry out. Figuring there was nothing she could do about it now, she wrung her hair out in attempt to dry off, or at the very least not get a cold. That was the last thing she needed. With a sigh of resignation to her damp fate, she was about to go inside and flock to the fire when she heard movement from around the corner. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slipped off her sandals and socks, and padded barefoot toward the source.

Rounding the corner, she was surprised to find Inuyasha sitting crosslegged against the wall, surrounded by a pile of various materials and a small lamp. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, but his features were completely relaxed, absorbed in his task. "Inuyasha? What are you doing out here?" She asked. It was the most she'd said all day.

She knew he had heard her coming, his ears twitching in her direction as he approached, but he waited until she spoke to look up at her. "I could ask you the same question." He answered, taking in her drenched clothing and dripping hair.

Kagome managed a dim smile. "I asked you first."

Inuyasha gave a breathy laugh, the sound not all quite there but the appreciation for her smile alive. He nodded toward the empty space beside him. Closing in the few steps between them, Kagome lowered herself to the ground, folding her legs at her side. "What are you doing?" She repeated. Their voices were quiet, hushed by the rain.

"I'm making something, dumby." Inuyasha nudged her lightly with his shoulder.

She nudged back, appreciating the old teasing more than she ever thought she would. "I can see that. I mean, what are you making?"

"It's a Sky Lantern." He grunted as he tied off a thin frame of bamboo strips.

"A Sky Lantern?" Kagome repeated, just to hear the sound on her own tongue. "Where did you learn how to make Sky Lanterns?"

Inuyasha's hands paused in their work, slowly lowering the frame down to his lap. "My mother taught me." He murmured. Knowing Kagome enough to realize that wasn't going to be enough of an answer for her, he took a deep breath and continued. "She was a Noblewoman, but the village I grew up in wasn't exactly tolerant of... well, _me_. My mother made lanterns to earn money. Eventually, she taught me how to do it too." Vivid golden eyes trailed up to the rainy world beyond their dry haven on the porch. "You should have seen the lanterns she'd make, Kagome. They were beautiful, people came from villages over just to buy them. I was never as good as her, but I guess I get the job done."

Kagome listened, enthralled in being trusted with this tiny glimpse of his past. "I didn't know that, Inuyasha." She smiled, the expression slowly becoming more genuine. "Tell me more."

"About what?" Inuyasha asked

"About your mother."

His lips pressed into a thin line. "She was all I had. Growing up amoung humans was hard, but there was no chance of being protected by my father's people, so we really had nowhere else to go. I never felt like I belonged anywhere, except with her. I mean, she was just like any mother, like yours. She was kind, and compassionate, and... she was beautiful. Nobles and Lord would come and ask her for her hand all the time, but she always told me she was still in love with my old man. Once they saw me, they always went packing anyway." He confessed. "She was everything to me, but she was human, and I'm not. She got old."

Kagome nodded in solemn understanding. A moment of silence passed, filled only by the soft patter of the rain. She reached out and ran her fingers along the framework of the Lantern. "Why haven't I ever seen you make a one?"

Inuyasha's eyes remained fixed on a distant nothing, clouded over with memories. "Haven't made one since she died."

Kagome understood immediately, the realization creeping through her veins and turning her cold. It went without saying, the reason he was making a lantern now after a hundred years. The knowledge broke her heart, but in some strange way, warmed it at the same time. She shifted closer to him, brushing up against his side. "Show me how."

Inuyasha looked up at her in surprise, eyes wide in wonder of how she could possibly want him to teach her. He knew what he was doing, but he wasn't all that good. Still, he wasn't going to say no. "Uh... yeah, sure. Take that knife and cut the rice paper along here," He instructed, tracing a long curve on the paper, "careful though, it's oiled."

The small hours of the morning were passed in companionable silence and soft murmurs as Inuyasha taught Kagome the craft. The rain poured rhythmically, thunder rumbling over the distant mountains but never quite reaching them. Every once in a while, Kagome wouldn't be able to help herself, and glanced toward Inuyasha as he work with deft fingers and memorized movements. By the time the eastern sky was spilling over with the first blue hints of dawn, the rain had stopped, the sky was clear, and they had two completed Sky Lanterns.

Putting the finishing touches on the two lanterns to make sure they were sturdy, Inuyasha looked down at Kagome with a slight tugging at the corner of his lip. She'd dozed off ten minutes ago, her head on his shoulder and her lips parted with every light breath. "Hey." He whispered, nudging his shoulder to wake her. "Get up, lazy."

Kagome moaned, slowly sitting up and yawning before she was even awake. Inuyasha guided her up to her feet, before carefully picking up the lanterns. "You carry the lamp." He instructed. It was still too dark out for her to see her way, and considering she was still half asleep, he doubted she'd make it without the extra help. Besides, they needed the lamp anyway.

Kagome nodded and picked up the lamp. "Where are we going?" She asked sleepily as she followed Inuyasha off the porch and onto the muddied path. The cool, soaked earth against her bare feet was enough to force her awake with a shiver.

Inuyasha didn't answer, but by the time they arrived at the edge of the hill, where the slope suddenly dropped on the other side of the path, he didn't have to. Kagome was awake enough at that point to understand what was going on. In the village bellow, the flutist began to practice again for the first time in a week as they lit the small makeshift candles in the centre of the lanterns. Inuyasha held onto the both of them until Kagome could put the lamp down and take her lantern.

For a long moment, neither of them did or said anything. They looked out over the misty hills, the wild forest, the village, and the rosey dawn with a quiet tranquility, until a gentle breeze rolled up the hill and they released. The glowing lanterns floated hesitantly above the ground before catching the wind and traveling into the sky, twisting and circling each other without ever separating. Kagome and Inuyasha watched them until their faint glows merged in the distance, and they couldn't tell one from the other.

Neither of them knew what they were, what this relationship was, but they didn't have to. The kiss in the Meido, the three years of yearning, that hesitant first night, it was all just part of the greater whole. They both knew, but neither were quite sure they were ready, and that was okay. As they watched the lanterns float together into the sky, Kagome stepped into Inuyasha's side and rested her head against his chest, while he wound an arm around her waist. What they had was unsure and unspoken, but it was there.

And hopefully, with those lanterns and their unspoken love, Kaede could see them from where she was.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was another fifty days until anything really eventful happened in the village. As a Shinto custom, fifty days after the passing of a loved one, the immediate family could take part in no celebrations. Kaede had no immediate family left, and so the entire village filled in the gap, offering prayers and tending to her grave. Every fresh flower placed on the polished gravestone was another reminder of just how loved the old woman was.

Kagome wasn't quite ready to take over the role as High Priestess of the village and its shrine, but she did her best to fill in the gap. She'd been a Shrine Keeper all her life, so that wasn't anything new, but when it came to duties like creating medicines and offering spiritual aid, she was in way over her head. So when word came from a northern village begging for help with a terrorizing demon, she couldn't be more eager to go.

Kohaku was watching his nieces and nephew, Rin was staying with Sesshomaru until things in the village returned to normal, and Shippo returned to his training. All in all, everything seemed to be settling down, but in no way was anything stable yet. That was why this trip was so important. Kagome hadn't been on a trip like this since she'd returned. Sure, there were small exterminations every once in a while, but there was nothing like getting out on the road again.

"We know, Kagome, you've said it a million times already!" Inuyasha huffed impatiently from behind her after Kagome repeated herself about how_ "there was nothing like getting out on the road again."_

Kagome shrugged unapologetically, stretching her arms over her head and basking in the noon day sunlight with a delighted smile. "But it's true!" She responded. Taking a deep breath of fresh hair, she released it with a content sigh and dropped her arms back to her side. Her sleeves slid back down her arms, flowing with every movement.

Inuyasha scoffed. "You'll be complaining about your feet hurting in twenty minutes, and I'm gonna have to carry you the rest of the way."

Kagome looked back at him from over her shoulder with a mock pout. "You don't give me enough credit."

Inuyasha shot her a teasing grin, folding his arms in the sleeves of his haori. "Not much to credit."

"S-"

"You wouldn't dare."

She smirked. "Ssssss-"

"Ka_go_me!" He whined.

"Ssssssssiiiiii-"

"Alright, I'm sorry!"

"-iiike! Psyche!"

Inuyasha faultered in midstep, apparently _not_ amused with Kagome's laughter at his expense. He hadn't been 'Sat' once in over three years, and while he was planning on keeping that streak up, he wasn't about to let her toy with his ego like that. With a playful growl, he leapt into the air, soaring over the group and landing right in front of the startled Miko, arms up, claws bared, and prepared to attack her at any moment. Kagome squealed and dodged his lunge for her, scrambling around him and running ahead on the dirt path. Inuyasha immediately took to the chase

Miroku and Sango watched behind, following at a leisurely pace while the hanyou and miko played a game of cat and dog, running around in aimless circles ahead of them. Sango smiled softly at the endearing scene. "What's holding them back?" She wondered aloud. "All this time, and they still haven't said anything. I mean, Kagome's already decided to spend her life here with him, you'd think they'd make it official."

Miroku shrugged. "Maybe they're just not ready. They are a bit younger than us, after all."

Sango arched her brow, glancing between the hanyou and her husband. "Inuyasha's a hundred and fifty years old."

"Doesn't mean he acts like it." Miroku laughed. It was true, though. Despite his true age, Inuyasha was still physically and mentally nineteen, and now so was Kagome. Things like marriage still seemed so far off for them. "They'll come around eventually. I wouldn't worry about it." With a sly smile, he redirected his attention back down to his wife. "And on another note, have I mentioned how ravishing you still look in your Taijiya uniform?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "Quiet you."

Up ahead of them on the path, Kagome and Inuyasha continued their playful battle. Inuyasha could have easily overpowered the human girl whenever he pleased, no contest, but that wasn't the point. The point was her laughter. Kagome hadn't laughed this genuinely in over a month, and hearing the sound filled something in him that had been missing long before Kaede's death. The sound was like wind chimes, unpredictable notes spilling from her smiling lips. If he could make her laugh like this more often, he'd risk the chance of getting Sat for chasing her a thousand times over.

A bush rustled in the forest.

Inuyasha dove for Kagome, curling his body around her as they rolled to the ground, the instinct immediate. Kagome didn't have time to scream. An arrow sliced through the air where she had been, embedding itself in a tree on the other side of the path. Inuyasha was on his feet and in a fighting stance before anyone could blink, fangs bared and claws tensed.

Bandits poured out of the forest with wild battle cries, quickly circling around the travelers as they stood back to back, poised and ready for a fight. Kagome rose unsteadily to her feet and drew her bow, willing the world to stop spinning.

"Do you have a death wish?" Inuyasha growled, scanning their opponents.

"Leave your weapons and valuables on the ground."One of the Bandits, the leader he guessed with the way he stood apart from the rest, ordered. "Cooperate and we /might/ let you keep your women." Beady eyes gazed lustfully over Sango and Kagome. "But then again, I could always use two concubines."

Kagome responded before Inuyasha even had the chance to tear the man's throat out. "You could use a bath too!"

The Leader's eyes narrowed. "Insolent wench!" He reached into his breast plate and tugged out a small crystal on a chain. "Bring her to me!"

The crystal pulsed in a pale blue shimmer, rippling through the air, and all at once Inuyasha felt his head split. He winced, his composure falling for just a moment before he managed to fight through it. "Not on your li-"

The crash of pottery against skull bone registered before any of them realized what they had just seen; a flower pot flew through the air and crashed against the Leader's head, sending him to the ground, unconscious and covered in soil. For one one beat, no one moved or did anything over than stare down at the man in bewilderment. The silence was only broken by a voice coming toward them from down the path. "Get away from them! Get away!" A boisterous and dramatic middle-aged man in a white kimono and blue hakama shouted as he ran toward them with another flower pot held over his head.

The Bandits exchanged a glance between themselves, before the man ran at them head on, waving the flower pot around like he expected to chase them off with the pottery alone; turns out, he wasn't that far off. The Bandits seemed to decide that this was getting too weird for them and made a beeline back into the woods. "Who do you think you are? Get back! You have no right to Banditry here!"

Watching in utter disbelief as the Flower Pot man chased the bandits away with nothing but crazed shouting, Inuyasha slowly relaxed and stood up straight. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome soon followed.

"So, uh..." Kagome began as they watched the man run back and forth on the path before them, "this is new."

"Stranger things have happened." Miroku added. "But yes, definitely new."

Now that they didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, Inuyasha groaned and held his head in his hand. Whatever had come over him was quickly subsiding, but the ache it left was throwing off his senses. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes to find Kagome staring up at him in concern. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

Inuyasha was quick to scoff. "I'm fine. And I do not."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

With the Bandits properly chased off, the Flower Pot man sauntered his way over to the dumbfounded group. "Good afternoon, travelers!" The man spoke as if he were addressing a large crowd.

"Thank you for your help." Sango offered, not entirely sure whether she should be wary or amused by the strange man.

Inuyasha stuffed his arms into his haori sleeves and grumbled. "We didn't need it."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped.

"What? We didn't!"

"Still." Miroku interjected before the two could break out into an argument. It still amazed him how quickly they could flip their attitudes like that. "We are very grateful. If there is anything we can do to repay you, please tell us." It was true that they would have been able to handle the bandits just fine on their own, but they didn't all lack the courtesy Inuyasha did.

The Flower Pot man waved them off. "No thanks needed!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, shooting a look at Kagome to silently convey his frustration in not offering thanks when the man didn't even want any. Kagome rolled her eyes with an equally frustrated huff, but for an entirely different reason. "So, you're a Priest?" She changed the subject, recognizing the man's clothing as the same Shinto Priest attire that her grandfather wore.

"That I am!" He proclaimed. "I am Takuya, Keeper of the Sengen Shrine. My superiors have sent me to a village just down the way, to take over the training of a young and powerful new Priestess."

Inuyasha groaned. "Just our luck. Hey!" He protested, glaring down at Kagome for stomping her heel on his foot.

Kagome smeared on an innocent smile. "I think I may be the Priestess you're looking for, but you flatter me too much." Her mask faultered for a moment, remembering when Kaede had said the same thing to her. No one could ever replace Kaede, but it was relieving to know that she would have help in taking over her duties. "My companions and I have been called to help with a demon problem in another village, but once you get there, make yourself home. Our village isn't much, but the people are very welcoming."

Takuya beamed up at them. He wasn't an overly tall man, or overly thin for that matter, but his personality was proving to be larger than life. "Fate!" He exclaimed.

"Bad luck." Inuyasha corrected.

"Inu_yasha_!"

"Well then!" Takuya cheered, turning and jogging up the path where he had dropped a cart full of various pots filled with herbs and fresh plants. He took a firm hold of both handles on either side of him, his weathered hands strong and sturdy. "I anxiously await your return! We will begin lessons as soon as you are ready. Until then!"

Watching as the strange Priest disappeared around the bend in the path, the four companions exchanged confused glances before shrugging it off and continuing on their way. The Bandit Leader was left behind, unconscious on the middle of the path and surrounded by broken clay. Just when they thought they'd seen everything.

For once, Inuyasha lingered behind the rest of the group. His distant eyes stared ahead, but his mind was fixated on the crystal the Bandit had chained around his neck. Whatever that thing was, he sure as hell never wanted to see it again. He told himself he had no desire to find out what it was, but he couldn't forget it. If that thing could hinder him from protecting Kagome like it had almost done back there...

"Hey, slowpoke!" Kagome called from the front of the group. "Got lead in your feet?"

Well, whatever it was, he was sure it could wait.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It took another day and night of travel to arrive at the village. A low stone wall surrounded the foot of the valley, closing around a collection of modest huts and a shrine at the top of the slope rising up into the mountains. Stepping stones led paths throughout the village, winding down the hill and to each doorstep. On the other side of the valley, another separate stone wall enclosed a pasture for their animals.

And sure enough, by the last leg of the journey, Kagome was on Inuyasha's back.

"I miss my penny loafers." She pouted, her chin resting on the hanyou's shoulder with her hands loosely wrapped around him.

Inuyasha scoffed, taking a little too much joy in being proven right. "Well, I hate to say I told ya so-"

"Then don't."

Kagome reluctantly slid off of Inuyasha's back and walked into the village alongside her companions. The letter sent to them had instructed them to go to the largest house in the centre of the main square, and it was there that they found a man clad in a Captain's armor waiting for them on the front steps. He was flanked on either side by his lower ranking officers, standing in respect for the approaching Demon Slayers. Their reputation had spread all over the country since their victory over Naraku, and as the Captain had learned, they were deserving of the utmost honour.

That was what he had believed until he spotted the silver haired demon amoung them, striding behind the Priestess. The Captain's eyes narrowed. With one snap of his fingers, his men reached for the swords at their belts.

Inuyasha reached out and pushed himself in front of Kagome, glaring dangerously at the Captain; and more importantly, the pale crystal hanging from a chain on his belt.

He wasn't going to like it here.


	3. Chapter 3

This one's a little longer than the others, as a special treat for the first week! There was a lot more to cover in this chapter, and it didn't feel right to cut it anywhere, so I left it alone.

I kept forgetting to mention in the last two chapters, but this doesnt' account for the Special Stand-Alone chapter that Rumiko put out last year, and as you and probably tell already, modifies the end of the manga so that Kaede is gone, and Inuyasha and Kagome aren't married. But that's about it.

Also, on a note for possible editing later, how do you guys feel about the English vs Japanese terms? I don't like using them interchangeably, but when I do it's usually for assonance or just the way it changes the tone. I don't want to throw too many Japanese terms in there, but sometimes it just works out better. You'll see a good example of that in the end of the chapter, but I figured I should leave it up to you. So you want me to use only English or Japanese terms, or do you not mind when I mix it up a bit? It's not a big deal, I can always go back and change a few words here and there. Just let me know what you think!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was hard not to take it as an insult. This middle of nowhere dump of run down shacks and ignorantly pleasant inhabitants was hardly the buzzing metropolis he's expected as his assignment. But he knew better than to question his master. He was grateful for his promotion to Captain, and as far as the Warlord was concerned, that was the end of the story. Nothing to ask, nothing to question. He accepted what he was given and moved on, but it was no secret to his men that he had no desire to be there.

Another thing he didn't dare bring up was why he had been ordered to send help in slaying a demon that had been tormenting his stationed village for so many years. With the power his master had so graciously given him, he could easily subjugate the demon; he couldn't kill it, but his men could do the rest. Why he had to ask the help for four Demon Slayers from miles away, but it was not his job to question.

Captain Tadashi Yorino believed he was an honorable and loyal man, but there was only so much even he could take before he got frustrated and curious.

Yorino had woken up that morning to the insufferable sound of the village roosters crowing and had to restrain himself from ordering one of his men to take up his bow and shoot it down. They were there to keep hold of an important, strategic point in the campaign to take Japan, and while making the villagers angry certainly wouldn't jeopardize that, it would make life a lot easier to keep them placated. All in all, that wasn't hard too do. They were almost embarrassingly simple minded.

After washing up and eating a breakfast his men had taken from the fields and livestock for the officers, he received word that the Demon Slayers had just arrived at the gates. It was a bothersome custom, especially when their help wasn't needed, but he reluctantly lined up his men in the courtyard of the mansion and stood to receive them. All he had on his mind was getting this over with, getting the demon slain, and getting to the nearest hot spring with a good woman.

So when the Demon Slayers entered the courtyard in the company of an Inu Hanyou, the first question that came to mind was what his Master was planning. To be so specific in demanding that they hire these people, he must have known about the beast in their midst. But that didn't mean he had to be welcoming. His eyes narrowed, and without second thought or remorse, he snapped his fingers. The Samurais surrounding him obediently reached to their swords, waiting for the order to draw them.

He watched as the Inu Hanyou held his arm out and pushed himself in front of the Miko, snarling up at him and, no doubt, claiming the woman as his territory like a feral dog. The Miko reached out and placed her hand on the Hanyou's shoulder; obviously, she'd been taught to be obedient too. The Monk and the Taijiya tensed and took a step closer to one another, but they were of little interest to him.

A long beat of silence drifted over what could quickly become a battlefield in the courtyard, filled only by the Hanyou's feral snarling. Finally, the Miko seemed to had have enough and stepped out from behind the demon. "I think there's been a misunderstanding..." She began hesitantly, her grip on her red bow tightening.

"What do you think you're _doing _Kagome? Get back!"

Kagome really didn't know what she thought she was doing, but that had never stopped her before. "We were called here to help with your demon problem! We've come as allies!" When the guards still did not move, and their Captain made no orders, she felt a sickening nervousness settle into her gut. The Captain slowly raised his hand.

Inuyasha's heart raced. "I said get back, Kagome!"

Kagome gritted her teeth as the Captain cut his hand through the air, expecting an attack. Her hand moved back to the quiver on her back, fingers brushing against an arrow. In unison, the Samurais sheathed their katanas and stood straight. Kagome flinched at the sudden movement, but once she realized what was happening, she slowly began to relax. The Captain stared down at her from the top of the stairs.

"Kagome. The name is familiar." The Captain frowned, scanning his piercing gaze over the group before him. "You are the warriors that defeated that nuisance Naraku three years ago." His gaze lingered on Inuyasha. "And their dog."

"Watch it." Inuyasha snapped, Kagome the only thing keeping him from starting a fight himself.

Miroku reluctantly straightened up, to address the Captain and his men. "We are the same. Inuyasha is the strongest of us, I'd show him some respect." He'd always been the one to pacify any tension, acting as the peace keeper when Inuyasha got heated, but it was an entirely different story when someone insulted his best friend.

"A Hanyou." The Captain snarled as if that word alone were enough to fuel his argument.

"Look," Sango hissed, "do you want our help, or don't you?"

He didn't. That was the simplest answer. The Captain had wanted nothing to do with a band of Demon Slayers in the first place, and now even less so. What on earth did his Master want with a half demon entering his land? His kind was the very thing his campaign had set out to eradicate. He would have to seek his council later. First, he'd have to appease them. "Very well." He grunted. "I must... apologize for my reaction. You are not what I expected, and as many have, I was taught to be wary of demons." With this he flickered his cold gaze back to Inuyasha. "I am Captain Yorino, of the Great Warlord Tadeka Masao's army. Welcome."

Kagome couldn't help but roll her eyes when she was sure Captain Yorino wasn't looking at her, muttering under her breath so lowly only Inuyasha would here. "Jeez, he sounds sincere."

Catching Kagome's inaudible whisper, Inuyasha snorted trying to suppress his laughter. The glare he received from the Captain for laughing bounced right off.

"You will be shown to your lodgings and given a good meal. In the morning, you will be shown to the demon." The Captain concluded, waved a hand to one of his men. The Samurai bowed, albeit begrudgingly, and stepped out of line to lead them.

"This way." He grunted.

Exchanging glances in silence conversation, the group agreed to follow, trailing behind at a good distance in case things turned sour again. Captain Yorino watched them go, watched as the Hanyou stepped up to the Miko's side and watched as the Miko brushed their arms together in wordless comfort. That such a beautiful young woman, and a Priestess at that, would call a Hanyou companion made his blood boil. In a strike of fury, his hand reached up to curl around the pale crystal hanging from his belt. A wave of satisfaction crashed over him as the crystal emitted its blue tinted glow.

Inuyasha didn't know what came over him. It was like a hurricane punched him in the gut, churning his stomach and making him dizzy. He groaned and stumbled forward, his hand flying up to his pounding head. Kagome's hands were steadying him before he had the chance to regain his senses.

"Inuyasha?"

The concern in his voice made his chest heavy. He hated making her sound like that."M'fine." He growled, harsher than he meant to.

Kagome remained unfazed by it. "Liar." She glanced around them in suspicious, trying to find the source of whatever was ailing the Hanyou, but the village seemed deserted. Captain Yorino and his men retreated back into the Mansion, and suddenly every door in the village was shut. In just minutes, the place became a ghost town. "Come on." She sighed once she was sure Inuyasha wasn't going to fall over. "Let's go. Some food and rest will do us all good."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The crackling of the fire that night did little to warm the cold atmosphere of the village outside. The lodging hut they'd been given was descent enough, more than suitable for a short stay, but with their earlier treatment, they still couldn't quite call it comfortable.

"It's strange, though." Sango reiterated as she poured herself a bowl of stew from the pot they'd been given. "Normally, we'd be shown to the demon at once, and then given our lodgings to rest the night."

"There is something suspicious about this place." Miroku agreed. Taking a long sip from his own bowl and wiping his mouth, he placed the bowl on the ground in front of him.

Inuyasha was sitting in front of the door, his ears twitching with every noise he heard outside. "You know fully well what I think." He shrugged. If it were up to him, they'd be halfway home by then, but Kagome would never let him hear the end of it. Speaking of the girl. "Kagome, would you quit staring at me like that?!"

The Miko in question frowned, but quickly averted her gaze. "I was just making sure you were okay."

"Well, don't."

"Inuyasha." Miroku called out to him, his voice calm and sure to stop any argument about to break out. "Did you catch the scent of any demons in the area?"

"Nothing." He answered, propping his knee up as he leaned back against the wall. "So wherever this demon is, it must be hiding or something, and only attacks occasionally. Otherwise they would have led us straight to it."

"That would make sense..." Kagome trailed off.

Catching the uncertainty in her voice, Inuyasha's attitude toward her changed in an instant. "What is it?"

"Well," Kagome began, "it might be nothing. When we were coming toward the village, I didn't feel any demonic aura, but what I did feel was something else, something... sinister, I guess. Whatever it was, it wasn't demonic."

Inuyasha scoffed. "So it's just really good at hiding, so what?"

"No," Kagome shook her head, "there was something familiar about this aura."

"I don't like the sound of that." Sango frowned.

"Yeah well, whatever it is, we'll find out in the morning." Inuyasha grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll be outside." Turning on his heel, he pushed the sliding door aside, stepped through, and slammed it shut behind him. It took Kagome less than a second to stand and follow him out.

Hearing Kagome follow him outside, Inuyasha growled under his breath and spun around to face her. "Maybe you didn't get the message Kagome, but it was implied that I wanted to be _alone._" The moment he turned, he could taste the regret on his tongue, but it was too late to take it back. The way the moonlight and the glow of the fire through the window lit up her features, and the understanding in her eyes, made his fists clench in shame.

"No you don't." She stated, not an ounce of doubt in her voice. "You tell yourself that, but you don't really want to be alone."

Inuyasha's chest burned. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I know you." Kagome smiled.

"Look, if you think I got my feelings hurt by some Jackass's backwards opinion of me, you've got it all wrong. I'm _used _to this Kagome, it's my _life._"

Kagome rolled her eyes, quickly getting fed up. "Would you drop it, already?"

"Drop what?!"

"Your stupid tough guy attitude!"

"I don't know how!"

The twilight crickets chirping in the trees overwhelmed the emptiness after Inuyasha's echoing shout. As they stared at each other in the silent aftermath, neither daring to breathe, a breeze rolled through and rustled through the overgrown grass. Kagome let go of her tension, taking a step forward to close the distance between them, and took Inuyasha's hand. "I'll teach you."

Every instinct Inuyasha had developed over his long life screamed at him to rip his hand out of her grasp, to run, shout, argue, whatever he needed to do to keep himself guarded. One touch from Kagome was all it took to shut him down.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

No one was allowed in the inner rooms of the Mansion, and this was why. Captain Yorino slid the door shut behind him and locked it, glancing through the paper blind to make sure his guards weren't watching. This was the darkest, innermost room of the Mansion, the only place he was even remotely safe. His men had been trained not to ask questions, but he certainly didn't want to cause suspicion. It would only make for trouble.

Before pledging his service to his Master, Yorino had been the Captain of another Warlord's army. It was all he had ever known, belonging to a long line of warriors. He'd served countless Warlords in this era of constant battle. The gaining and loosing of village after village grew tiresome. There was no honour in scrambling for scraps of land, no victory, no glory. When one Warlord fell, he'd move on to another, like a snake across a battlefield.

But if there was one Master he was loyal to, it was Masao Takeda. It was finally a cause he believed in, and a Lord powerful enough to be worthy of service.

Kneeling in the centre of the room, Yorino yanked the pale crystal from his neck and tossed it into the air in front of him. The crystal hung in the air, emitting its pure blue light as its chain swayed in an invisible wind. "Master." He addressed, bowing down low onto the rug.

"They've arrived?" A voice answered him from within the crystal.

"They have." Yorino confirmed. "You'll... you'll have to forgive me, my Lord, but one of them, he's-"

"A Hanyou. You think I was unaware."

"N-No! No, of course not, my Lord. I was just... asking for clarification, I suppose. Master, if you'd be so gracious as to tell me, why did you have me call upon them?"

For a long moment, the crystal didn't answer. The hair on the back of Yorino's neck rose.

"A Hanyou." The voice repeated. "You're an intelligent man, Captain. But perhaps I gave you too much credit." Yorino's hands clenched on his lap. "This is a test. Tomorrow, you will use the crystal on him, and observe. Understood?"

"Yes, Master."

Without another word of acknowledgment, the crystal ceased its glowing and dropped to the ground with a light clatter. Yorino was left staring at the place it had once been, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light as he absorbed himself in his own thoughts. Whoever this Hanyou was, the Master believed him important enough to warrant caution; he would never say so aloud, but that much was obvious. Otherwise, he'd just kill him immediately. He certainly wasn't one for asking questions first.

Picking up the crystal from off the floor, Yorino hung it from his neck once again and rose to his feet. Nothing to do now but follow orders. That, he could do, and do well.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Inuyasha and Kagome spent the late hours of the night lying out on the grassy hillside, staring up at the stars and enjoying the cool breezes through the humid air. Every once in a while, Kagome would point up at a cluster of stars and trace out a constellation, but other than that, not much was said. By midnight, Kagome's breathing had evened out, and subconsciously seeking warmth, she had curled up against Inuyasha's side. This wasn't exactly a lesson in dropping his gruff exterior, but he wasn't exactly complaining either. That would probably come later, but for now, he was content to just hesitantly wrap his arm around her. At that point, he figured that they'd been outside long enough and bundled her up in his haori before carrying her inside. The last thing they needed was her catching a cold.

As he always did when they were in a place he didn't feel comfortable in, Inuyasha slept lightly for the rest of the night, sitting up against the wall. His ears continued to twitch with every sound, mostly just flicking toward Kagome to listen to her breathing. He got enough rest to be able to fight just fine when the morning sun woke him up the next day, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to going back to their village. He wasn't sure when he started thinking of it as home, but the realization that he did made him shiver. Any home he ever had never really worked out.

Kagome groaned, and pulled her blanket tighter around her, swatting Inuyasha's foot away where it nudged her persistently in the side. "Come on, get up already."

"Five more minutes." She whined, tugging the blanket over her head.

"You said that twenty minutes ago." He argued.

"Alright, alright!" Kagome finally gave in. With a long yawn, she stretched her arms over her head and sat up, the blanket falling off her shoulders. It took her a few moments too long to realize that it was Inuyasha's haori, A scarlet blush crawled its way onto her cheeks before she could stop it. "Uh, you'll probably want this back." She said as he held it out to him, turning her face away and feeling fifteen all over again. Memories of the night before came rushing back, innocently lying on the cool grass and falling asleep against the Hanyou's side. It was nothing to be embarrassed about, but try telling her treacherous cheeks that.

Inuyasha took the haori and slipped it back on, and if Kagome had turned her head, she would have found the same tint to his cheeks as hers. "We don't got all day." He scoffed as he tied the fabric into place.

"I'm up!" She argued, the laughter in her voice barely hidden under mock anger. Pushing herself to her feet, Kagome made her way over to the water basin in the corner and washed her face, the sharp cold of the water serving to force her fully awake. "That's better." She sighed. "Where are Miroku and Sango?" She asked as she glanced toward the corner of the room where they'd been sleeping.

"Sango's out behind the hut warming up for the extermination. Miroku is pretending to meditate and watching her." He shrugged, the laugh he earned from Kagome lightening his mood.

"Of course he is." Kagome shook her head. "Well, I'll go see if I can get us some breakfast." She offered, walking toward the door only to have Inuyasha step in her way.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He insisted gruffly.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"There's a demon out there somewhere, Kagome. What if it comes back while you're out? Besides, I don't trust these people."

That much was understandable. If she'd been treated like he had been when they arrived, she wouldn't trust them either; in fact, just for the way they treated him, she really didn't. But it was that same reason that she didn't want him going out with her. It wasn't that she thought he was fragile enough to get his feelings hurt as he had said the night before, but she knew that stuff could get to him sometimes. Who knew how the villagers would react? "I'll be fine." She reassured. "Promise." With Inuyasha pacified for the time being, she slipped out the door before he could change his mind.

The morning was already bright and clear, the humidity of the night before still hanging in the air. Behind the hut, she could hear Sango practicing her Katas and the light jingle of Miroku's prayer beads swaying as he pretended to meditate. Beyond their secluded lodgings, the rest of the village was alive and bustling with activity. Farmers headed out to their fields, families played with their children outside, and carts pulled by cattle were herded up and down the roads. It was a little busier than their village, but peaceful in its own right.

Making her way up the dirt street, Kagome figured her best bet of finding breakfast was to go to the Mansion at the centre of the village. Along the way she was met with bows of respect from people passing by, despite the fact that they all seemed to be Buddhist. It wasn't an uncommon thing though, so she smiled, bowed back, and continued on her way.

"Did you hear the news?" One of the villagers on the side of the road asked his friend as they set up their cart of eggs. "Our Lord Takeda has taken more land to the North, with hardly a matchlock or arrow fired!"

Overhearing the conversation, Kagome slowed to a gradual stop and listened.

The older man nodded as he stood from unhooking his cow from the cart. "Good. If he can deliver on what he promises, I wish him all of Japan."

"A world without Demons."

Kagome frowned, unable to place why that sent a chill through her body. Everyone wished for a world without the plague of Demons taking lives and destroying everything they've worked for, it was normal and understandable. But the way they said it didn't sit well with her. Eyes lingering on the two men as they set up their wares for the morning, she began walking again, only to feel a hand on the back of her kimono yanking her aside. Kagome yelped in surprise, stumbling to regain her footing as she struggled to catch up with what had just happened. A Samurai stood in her path, looking disgruntled at almost being bumped into. Behind her, Inuyasha still had his hand on her back, glaring at the armored man.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Kagome apologized.

"It's quite alright, Priestess." The Samurai bowed, though his harsh gaze remained trained on the half demon behind her. "I was just on my way to bring you and your companions breakfast."

"We'll take it from here then." Inuyasha grunted, taking the black box of food from the Samurai, not willing to have him follow them back to their hut. The moment he felt its weight, he knew it was too light. He opened the lid a crack, finding his suspicions correct. There was only enough food for three people inside, and a significant amount of space on the left where another meal had been. Glaring up at the Samurai as the man stood straight again, he caught sight of the sac hanging from his side and smirked. "Y'know, _Miroku_ does come off pretty unlikable, but you should still give him something to eat." He mocked as snatched the snack from off the Samurai's side and pulled out another, smaller box. Sure enough, inside was the missing meal.

Fists clenching at his sides, the Samurai remained rigid. "It won't happen again."

"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding." Kagome stepped in, the tension in the air cut by her soft voice. "Thank you for breakfast. Come on, Inuyasha." Hooking her arm through his, she smiled back at the Samurai and dragged the Hanyou back off toward their hut. "You know, you're _really _not helping your case, acting like that."

Inuyasha scoffed. "It's their own fault!"

"I know," Kagome sighed, "but you can be the bigger person and prove them wrong."

"When have I _ever _wanted wanted to be the bigger person?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

By noon, the four of them were well rested, well fed, and on their way through the forest bordering the village up the basin of the valley. The forest floor was thick with moss and roots, making the journey difficult. Inuyasha complained more than once that it would be faster if he could just jump through the trees, but one attempt left him tangled in a web of vines. Kagome had burst into laughter as she watched Sango argue with him about cutting him out until the Demon Slayer eventually just let him fall to the ground. The Samurai and Captain Yorino were less than amused by the whole scene.

"This way." Captain Yorino called back to them as he went ahead, his men lingering behind the group to make sure they didn't get lost.

"This guy must be a lot of fun at parties." Sango grumbled under her breath as they followed, earning a muffled laugh and a playful shove from Inuyasha, the incident forgotten.

The deeper they traveled into the forest, the more uneasy Kagome felt. Now that they were closer to the Demon, she could feel its aura, but it was no wonder that she couldn't feel it back in the village. It was so faint and harmless that she had to strain herself to catch it. Noticing her tension, Inuyasha reluctantly slowed his pace to fall back and walk by her side. Finally, Captain Yorino stopped at marker, a talisman hanging from a tree branch. "You will find the Demons through there." He pointed up ahead.

"About time." Inuyasha smirked. He'd been growing restless the entire journey. Itching for a good fight, he led his companions past the marker.

The beaten path led them into a clearing where the trees were few but tall, stretching their branches over head and creating a canopy of leaves filtering out the sunlight. Withered flowerbeds dotted the ground, crawling over the moss and weeds. Not a single bug flew through the air, and not a demon was in sight.

Inuyasha's grip tightened on the Tessaiga still at his side. "Alright, come out you coward!" He shouted.

"Wait." Kagome's hand shout out to his shoulder, her eyes fixed dazedly ahead of them.

Inuyasha frowned. "Kagome?"

"Just wait." She insisted. Making sure the others wouldn't follow, Kagome stepped lightly into the centre of the clearing. She had been right the night before; something about this aura was familiar. Demonic, but not threatening. Standing completely still, she acted on a complete hunch and strengthened her aura like a beacon as Kaede had taught her. A heart beat pulse ripped through the clearing with an invisible wind. Behind her, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha tensed.

A quiet shrill came from the tree tops. Kagome opened her eyes to watch as long, tendrils of blue creatures swam through the beamed of light down to her. "Soul Collectors." She breathed. The Shinidamachū floated down toward her and wound their eel like bodies in lazy circles through the air and around Kagome's body, brushing against her with their whispered shrills. It was almost playful. Kagome laughed as one of them gently spiraled up her arm and around the other, placing its head in her hand.

Inuyasha's hand fell limp from the Tessaiga, his breath caught in his through as he watched the eerie scene unfold. The familiarity of it was painful, the beautiful Miko surrounded by the floating creatures. His soul ached. But even as he watched, he was struck with both the familiarity and the differences; how Kagome made the stoic demons seem warm and welcoming, how she laughed as she showed them care. Inuyasha watched Kikyo and Kagome as one. Kikyo the gentle past, and Kagome the warm present and future. No conflict, no trying to see one from the other or as a whole, just who she used to be and who she was. The Shinidamachū recognized her soul, and for the first time, so did Inuyasha. A weight he didn't know he was carrying lifted from his chest.

"What are you waiting for? Destroy them!" Captain Yorino barked from the edge of the clearing, shattering the heavenly peace that had smothered their tension.

Kagome spun toward the Captain, her eyes panicked. "But they're peaceful!"

Captain Yorino snarled and stepped into the clearing. "Destroy them!"

Fleeing the negative aura entering their space, the Soul Collectors cowered behind Kagome.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The whole changing between Soul Collectors and Shinidamachū is what I was talking about earlier, but the same goes for Miko vs Priestes and Hanyou vs Half Demon. Demon Slayer vs Taijiya is something I'm only going to use when refering to Sango, so that her title is Taijiya and the rest of the group, when out on the job, are Demon Slayers. Hanyou is something that's going to stay either way because I'm going to be using it for a little something important much later in the story, but I'd really like an opinion on it.

That's about it for now, then. Tell me what you think, your reviews mean the world to me!


	4. Chapter 4

Alright fellas, here's the deal. I've got Uni exams coming up until mid-April, and then I'm moving back home for the summer. So I'll write when I get the chance, but don't expect much until I'm on break.

(To be honest, I'll probably write more than I saw because I'm a procrastinating little bastard, but I'm putting that out there in case I do end up deciding to be a productive student.)

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The tension in the air was acidic. The shinidamachū quivered behind their decided protector, their graceful floating reduced to frantic squirms in the air. Feeding off their fear, Kagome glared across the clearing at Captain Yorino with a clenched jaw. "What did they do wrong?" She demanded. "Have they hurt anyone in the village? Have they stolen? Have they disturbed you?"

"No." The Captain spat. "But what does it matter? They are demons, the embodiment of evil on Earth!" 

Inuyasha watched the confrontation with growing anger, protective heat searing his gut as he watched the Captain shout at Kagome. "She said no." He growled, sliding his feet over the dew soaked grass until he stood firmly in between Kagome and the Samurai. To their left, Sango and Miroku remained still, trying to avoid provoking a fight while standing in solidarity with their companions.

This was not going at all as he had planned, Captain Yorino realized with heavy dread. For whatever reasons, his Master had ordered him to observe the Slayers in combat, and to use to power of the crystal on the wretched Hanyou. If he could not follow his orders, he didn't want to know that Lord Takeda would do to him. The situation was going downhill too fast, and so he concluded, he'd just have to make a new one. "Back to the village." He barked to his men.

With no questions asked, the Samurai obeyed and filed into line to travel back through the thick woods. Inuyasha remained completely still, ready to strike at any moment, until they were long out of sight. "Bastards." He growled under his breath as he slid back up to his full height.

"Y'know, you guys are actually pretty cute." Kagome cooed at the shinidamachū twirling around her, as happy as their stoic natures would show. Years ago, the creatures brought a sickening dread every time she saw them, but since then her view on them and many things that had happened back then had changed.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He didn't care how cute they were (which they weren't,) they weren't bringing them home. Leaving, Kagome to her apparent new friends, he looked over to Sango and Miroku. "Well, it looks like this one was a bust." It certainly wasn't the first time something like this had happened since their retirement from jewel shard hunting, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"Nothing we can do about that." Sango shrugged as she secured Hiraikotsu by its straps over her shoulder. "Come on, if we leave now, we can make it halfway home by nightfall."

With nothing left to say or do, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha became making their way back through the forest, following the retreating Samurai. It only took about five steps for Inuyasha to realize that Kagome wasn't following. Heaving a sigh, he turned on his heal and crossed his arms impatiently. "Are you planning on comin'?" He asked

Kagome stuck her tongue out at the Hanyou in retaliation against his impatience. "Just a second." She promised before turning her attention back to the shinidamachū swirling around her. "I'm sorry, but you can't stay here." She murmured to them. "It's not safe for you. If you travel farther up the mountain and away from the valley, you might find a safe place."

As if it show gratitude, one of the shinidamachū brushed its face against her cheek before circling the others and guiding them back into the forest. Whether they would listen, or whether they understood her, Kagome didn't know. All she felt was relief at avoiding a confrontation and the prosecution of innocent creatures. Whatever the Captain's problem was with them was completely beyond her. Standing in the clearing and watching as their otherworldly glow disappeared into the trees, it was hard to imagine why anyone, even her, had found them menacing. She didn't realize she had been staring until she heard Inuyasha shifting from foot to foot behind her. "Inuyasha..." She began hesitantly, glancing back at him from over her shoulder as she turned to face him, "that didn't bother you, did it? I mean, seeing them... and me... like this." She stumbled over her tongue trying to find the right way to voice her concerns.

"No, why would it?" Inuyasha tried to shrug it off, his eyes flickering past her to the faint glow the demons left behind.

"You know why."

It took a moment for him to really ask himself this time. Did it bother him? The residual shock of seeing the eerily familiar scene was still making his heart flutter in uncertainty, and it frustrated him to no end. Yet he couldn't bring himself to think of anything but the way Kagome stood so strongly with her morals, the way her eyes gleamed with a protectiveness that smothered her panic. In those moments, she hadn't looked anything like her predecessor, but her soul had burst in the same light. It was only when he realized that, that Inuyasha could answer honestly. "No."

Kagome looked at him skeptically. "Promise?"

Inuyasha scoffed and rolled his eyes, quickly picking up his typical demeanor. "Yeah, I promise."

Satisfied with his answer, Kagome smiled and reached forward to take his hand. "Good."

All at once, the both of them tensed. Inuyasha's ears flicked toward the forest, tilting his nose into the air. Kagome's head snapped in the same direction. Before either of them could reach for their weapons, the weight of a colossal body slamming into the ground sent them flying through the air in different directions, flung to the ground in a cloud of dirt and rocks.

Kagome skidded across the ground, skin scraping over the ragged earth and burning with the sting. By the time the momentum ceased, there was no time to thing of the pain. A giant, clawed paw rushed towards her. Kagome scrambled for her bow, only to find that her quiver had spilt her arrows across the clearing. A scream was caught and silenced in her throat as Hiraikotsu came spinning through the air, slicing the demon's paw off at the wrist before coming back around and lodging itself in its back. 

"Kagome!" Miroku's hands were on her shoulders before she could register what was happening, pulling her out of the way and behind the cover of a nearby tree. "Are you alright?"

Shaking herself from the shock, Kagome quickly pulled herself together and looked down at herself. A few bleeding scrapes on her arms and legs, but not even enough to soak through the fabric of her clothing. "I'm fine." She reassured, peaking out from behind the tree. "Where's Inuyasha?" The Hanyou's enraged shouting echoed off the forest with the sound of tearing scales. That answered that. "You go help the others, I need to gather my arrows." 

Confident that Kagome could handle herself, and if something should happen they'd be there to help, Miroku nodded and ran out into the fray. Their opponent was a giant lizard demon with poisonous spines protruding from its scaled grey back, thrashing wildly through the clearing as Sango and Inuyasha tag teamed it. Unable to get a good, clean shot in, they were forced to resort to evading aimless attacks and hitting what was in their way. Kagome scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the first arrow she saw, latching it onto her bow string and pulling it back to take aim. Aim was the problem. The beast was so erratic and without thought that she couldn't focus on any lethal point. Realizing they were going to run out of time, she let go and watched as the arrow embedded itself in the Demon's knee. It howled in pain, slit tongue flicking out of its maw as it zeroed in on its attacker.

Kagome realized her mistake too late. _A little out of practice I guess, _she thought as she threw herself to the ground, narrowly missing the claws swiping through the air above her. Without missing a beat, Inuyasha leapt through the air and clawed at the creature's tail to distract it from her. Kagome quickly righted herself, reaching for another arrow on the ground a few feet away. _Why isn't he using the Tessaiga? _One slash of the fang sword and this demon would be destroyed. They could have been on the way back to the village by now. It only left one sickening explanation. _He can't. _

Inuyasha propelled himself off a tree trunk and spun through the air, swiping his claws at the demon's back only to be swatted away moments later by its tail. He skidded to the ground, stopped only when his back rammed into another tree's roots. Sweat beaded on his brow. His vision blurred. Across the clearing, he watched as Kagome gathered the arrows within her reach, while Sango and Miroku struggled with the demon. What the fuck was happening to him? The Tessaiga hung useless at his side, unable to transform as he'd discovered at the beginning of the battle. Whatever this was, it was affecting both him and his sword, and he really didn't like the thought of that. Inuyasha forced himself to his feet only to cringe and fall back down to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. A stake being driven through his skull would have been merciful.

A scream pierced his ears from across the clearing and for a moment he swore his heart burst from his chest. Inuyasha looked up to see the Demon's open maw falling toward her, bared teeth bigger than her torso. He couldn't make it to her in time. "Kagome!"

Kagome watched in paralyzing fear as the Demon's razor teeth came at her, its open mouth like a dark cave to swallow her whole. Inuyasha's cracked shout was drowned out by her own heartbeat, but the distant voice managed to snap her out of her frozen terror. Kagome tried to scramble out of the way only to trip and twist her ankle as the Demon's colossal paw crashed into the earth and knocked her off balance. And suddenly she was three feet off the ground and shielding her eyes against a cloud of dirt. Regaining her senses, Kagome looked up to find five shinidamachū carrying her to safety. Her gaze snapped back down to the battle the moment she heard a familiar voice yelp in pain. Inuyasha was flung across the clearing once again by the Demon's tail, landing limp in the middle of the open grass. He didn't get up.

The shinidamachū deposited Kagome in the sturdy branches of a tree and remained hovering around her. There was no time to thank them. The Demon was recovering from its stumble and heading straight for Inuyasha. "Sango!" She shouted. "There's something wrong with Inuyasha!"

The Taijiya rolled expertly out of the way of the Demon's claws, springing up to catch Hiraikotsu as it spun back to her. Tensing at Kagome's cry, she redirected her attention to the Hanyou in the middle of the battlefield. "Miroku, distract it!" She shouted to her husband as she ran toward their fallen comrade.

Without missing a beat, Miroku reached into his robes and pulled out a bundle of sutras. He'd only brought sutras fit for expelling demonic spirits from homes, they weren't nearly strong enough to do any damage, but from what he saw earlier, spiritual energy irritated the demon. The Monk threw them onto the Demon's back as it ran toward Inuyasha, effectively drawing its attention to him. Just before the Demon stopped and howled in pain, Sango ran in the way and grabbed Inuyasha, hauling him over her shoulders. The Demon turned, oversized feet digging up the earth as it changed course and Sango wasted no time in carrying Inuyasha away.

The Demon descended on Miroku, claws flared and mouth open to devour him. Miroku gripped his staff, ready to either evade the attack or fight for his life. He didn't have to. The whistling of an arrow flying through the air ended abruptly with the sound of stone embedding itself into the soft tissue of the Demon's neck. The clearing erupted in a bright light as the Demon's flesh dissolved into thin, purified air. Kagome lowered her bow from her place in the trees.

Without need to be told, the shinidamachū took hold of the Miko and lowered her off the tree branch. The moment her feet touched the ground, Kagome sprinted across the clearing, ignoring the searing pain in her ankle. Sango gently lowered Inuyasha to the ground as she crashed to her knees beside him. "He's burning up."

Kagome bit her lip and held Sango lay him out comfortably. She brushed a long lock of silver hair from his sweat dampened face. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha!"

"Was he hit by one of the poisonous spines?" Miroku asked, kneeling at his opposite side.

"N-No, he's not even bleeding anywhere." Kagome shook her head, gently tapping the unconscious Hanyou's cheek to try to coax him awake. "He just collapsed, and he wasn't using the Tessaiga."

"Whatever is affecting Inuyasha must also be affecting the Fang." Miroku concluded gravely.

"It's suspicious." Sango muttered just loudly enough for them to hear as she retrieved the Hiraikotsu. She sent a wary glance to the forest where the Samurai and their Captain were emerging unharmed. "We were led here to exterminate harmless demons, and just so happened to be attacked by a dangerous one."

Miroku frowned, following his wife's gaze to the men at the opposite edge of the clearing. "It is, but we can't confront them about it right now. We have to get Inuyasha to safety first."

"We can't make it back to the village with him like this." Kagome sighed.

Sango nodded sympathetically. "Then we'll have to stay the night and get out as soon as we can."

Miroku passed Kagome his staff, giving her a reassuring smile as he pulled Inuyasha up and onto his back. "I don't enjoy being here any more than you two do, but it's our only choice right now."

Slinging her bow over her shoulder, Kagome stood with Miroku's staff and nodded. The way they had treated Inuyasha had been enough, but his sudden ill health couldn't be a coincidence.

"You slayed the demon! Wonderful, we are certainly in your debt." Captain Yorino droned as he approached them from across the clearing. He regarded Inuyasha with disdain. "How unfortunate that you were burdened with the Hanyou. Is your ankle hurt too much, Priestess? One of my men could easily carry you back."

Having not noticed Kagome's fall, Miroku and Sango looked to her in worry, silently asking her the same question. Kagome simply stiffened her jaw to keep herself from outright glaring at the Captain. He'd seen her trip, so he'd obviously been close but chose not to help her. "I'm just fine. Thank you." She couldn't keep the venom from dripping off her tongue with the feigned gratitude. "But I can make it back on my own. I've been through worse." It was true, but Inuyasha had always been there to carry her. Now it was her turn to tough it out.

"Very well." The Captain nodded. "You will be paid promptly, and then you can be on your way."

"We'll need to stay the night." Miroku spoke up, his voice firm and unwilling to take no for an answer. "Our companion isn't well, and we wont be able to make the journey back until he has recovered."

Captain Yorino's lips twitched, threatening to curl in disgust until he was able to put on a mask of indifference. "Then you may leave at your leisure. As I said, we are in your debt." He flourished with a bow.

The afternoon sunlight glinted off a pendant hanging around his neck, drawing Kagome's attention to it. A pale crystal, cloudy and colourless, swayed on its chain and for a moment seemed to glow a faint blue light. The same crystal flashed before her mind's eye, hanging from the neck of a Bandit. "Thank you." Kagome nodded, turning on her heal and heading back toward the forest path without another word. Sango and Miroku followed, leaving the Captain to watch them in mounting frustration. Once they were farther away from the Captain and his Samurai, Kagome slowed her erratic pace to let the others catch up to her. It took a moment for her heart to do the same.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

When Inuyasha began to stir that late evening, Sango and Miroku excused themselves outside. There were some times, they knew, that Kagome and Inuyasha needed to be alone.

It came in faint twitches of his eyebrows first, his face contorting in discomfort. His fingers, feet, and neck followed in miniscule movements as he grunted and whimpered. Kagome knelt down behind him and lifted his head to rest in her lap. Slivers of fading sunlight slipped through the cracks of the walls and lit the hut in a soft, golden glow. Kagome held her breath his his eyes finally opened. "Inuyasha?"

With a strangled gasp, the Hanyou lurched forward , eyes wildly darting around and ready for a fight. His mind had yet to catch up with him and realize that he wasn't in the middle of battle, when he swayed and felt his strength drain. Kagome reacted immediately, wary of his state of mind as she gently guided him back down to her lap before he hurt himself. "Shhhh, Inuyasha it's me, it's just me." She whispered.

"Fuck..." He cursed, lifting an unsteady hand to his forehead only to let it fall back to his side moments later. "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Kagome smiled sympathetically. "You took a bad hit and collapsed."

Inuyasha frowned, looking around the room as if it took him a moment for his unclear vision to find her looming above him. "You don't think that's all, do you?" It wasn't a question.

"No."

"Neither do I."

Kagome sighed. Speculating wouldn't do them much good at the moment. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got torn apart and glued back together with tree sap. Twice." He groaned.

A light laugh slipped from Kagome's lips, the memory of Inuyasha's rage at having his hands covered in sap and tree bark still vivid and dear. "Well, I'd say that's pretty sturdy stuff."

"Tell that to my head."

Brushing a strand of hair from sticking to his face, Kagome took that as close to an admonition that he was in pain. "Here, I made something that'll help earlier, just in case." She smiled as she carefully stood and let Inuyasha's head fall gently back down to his pillow. Standing a moment to make sure she had her balance, she limped her way over to the centre of room where a pot of water was boiling on the firepit. Walking back from the clearing to the village really hadn't been the best for her ankle, but it couldn't be helped.

Inuyasha watched her with a deep frown. "You're hurt."

"It's fine, just sprained it a little." Kagome reassured him as she lowered herself down and set to work.

"It is not fine!" Inuyasha argued, gathering enough strength to prop himself up on his elbows.

"Well, whether you think it's fine or not, there's nothing we can do about it. Now lay back down and stay still." She ordered in a no nonsense tone as she dropped a paste of herbs into the bottom of a shallow cup. Using the deep spoon sitting beside the firepit, she poured boiling water into the cup as let the paste dissolve. A sweet aroma rose off the concoction in steam. "Alright," She began as she stood again, "it may not taste the best, but it'll help your fever and lessen the pain, so you'd better drink a-!" It took only two steps for her to stumble, wincing as her ankle flared in pain. 

Inuyasha was quick to try scrambling to his feet. "W-Wait! Be careful, stupid! I'll help you." He insisted, frantically attempting to reach her only to collapse onto his mat again in a tangle of sheets and silver hair.

"Inuyasha." Kagome rolled her eyes in exasperation, quickly limping her way back to the Hanyou. "I told you to stay still." Setting the cup on the floor, she knelt down and helped him roll back over onto the mat. She shifted back to her former place at his head, sitting on his pillow so he could rest on her lap. With his head propped up, it was easier to guide the cup to his lips and slowly tilt it back for him to drink.

Taking his first sip, Inuyasha immediately gagged and tried to push it away. "It takes like shit!" He complained.

"It's medicine, of course it does." Kagome shrugged. "Now drink up."

Inuyasha made a long, whining groan under his breath to let Kagome exactly how he felt about her stupid medicine, but made no further protest when she tipped it to his mouth again. He forced it down in three quick gulps before pushing it away again and letting his head fall back onto Kagome's lap.

The Miko was quick to pick up on his sickly pale complexion and nauseated expression. "Are you gonna throw up?"

"I am not gonna throw up."

"Do you want me to get you a bucket?"

"No."

"It's okay, it doesn't bother me, Sota used to throw up _everywhere_ when he was a toddler, and even when we were in the car on long trips, or when he was nervous. I'm used to it, it's fine-."

"You are _not_ helping Kagome!"

"Right, sorry." Kagome ducked her head, sheepishly smiling down at Inuyasha in embarrassment. The sweet expression drew a flash of a smirk on the Hanyou's lips, but it didn't last long. Wincing as a wave of lingering pain crashed over him, he curled in fingers in the light sheet draped over him to keep from making any more noise. Kagome bit her lip, the helplessness of not being able to spare him from this making her stomach drop. "Go back to sleep, maybe you can sleep it off." She whispered, idly adjusting the sheet to make him more comfortable.

Inuyasha was far from protesting at that point. With nothing but a faint nod, he let his heavy lids droop closed. His breathing evened out in seconds.

Kagome scarcely left his side for the next three hours. Sango and Miroku came in for dinner but spent most of their time outside. She really couldn't blame them. There wasn't much to do inside the cramped little Hut, and the air was thick and stifling. She thought a few times about opening the sliding door to let a breeze in, but she didn't feel safe opening the room to anyone who wished to walk in. Not in this village. Eventually though, the room was too suffocatingly stale, and she stood to pull back the screen door. A cool breeze rolled past her and filled the room, dancing over her kimono sleeves. Having compromised her peace of mind for comfort, she took precaution by retrieving her bow and what arrows were left in her quiver from the corner of the room.

The silence was broken without warning by the sharp escalation of Inuyasha's breathing, growing shallow and ragged from the other side of the room. Hairs on her neck standing on end, Kagome scrambled back to his side. Leaning over him, she cupped his sweaty cheek to coax him awake. "Inuyasha? What's wrong?" She asked frantically.

Inuyasha groaned, letting his head fall into the cool touch. "S'too hot." He rasped.

"O-Okay, hold on." Kagome blurted, crawling over to the centre of the room. Walking would take to long at that point. Taking a rag from the sac of first aid supplies they had brought, she filled a small bowl with the now cold water and brought them both back to Inuyasha's mat where the Hanyou was struggling to take his haori off. Kagome set down beside her and quickly helped him out of the heavy clothes, tugging off his haori and white under kimono to leave him bare chested and hopefully not as hot. Without wasting a moment, she dipped the rag into the cool water and wiped his forehead. "Is that better?" She asked.

"Mhm." Inuyasha grunted between laboured and shallow breaths. "Fuck, my head..."

Kagome bit her lip again in nervous habit. Whatever was affecting him was obviously incurable by human medicine, leaving her helpless to do anything but try to make him comfortable. She didn't seem to be doing a very good job at it so far.

"Hey," Inuyasha's hoarse voice broke her from her thoughts, "don't do that." Using what little strength he had, he reached up and gently pushed her lip out from between her teeth with the pad of his thumb. His fingers lingered hesitantly over her mouth before dropping back to his side.

"Sorry." She murmured, perking up one when an idea came to mind. "Here." Carefully lifting his head, she shifted herself so that she had better access to his shoulder, and let him rest against her lap again.

"What are you doing?"

"Just relax, it might help." Kagome assured in the only explanation she would offer. Placing her hands on his bare shoulders, she began to gently squeeze the muscles at the base of his neck and worked her way down to his forearms. Inuyasha melted beneath her fingers, tension slowly starting to slip away as she made her way back up to his neck and down again, slowly increasing the pressure.

"Where'd ya learn how to do this?" Inuyasha slurred, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Grandpa started having upper back problems two years ago." She explained in a hushed tone. "A nurse would come to the shrine every week and give him the same massage. Eventually, she taught us all how to do it so we could do it if he was in pain after she left." Bringing her hands to the base of his neck, she rolled her thumbs in tight circles on either side of his backbone. "Grandpa always complained that I did it too roughly, but Sota and Mom never did it right." She cringed apologetically. "I'm not being too rough, am I?"

"No." Inuyasha replied immediately. "It.. feels really good."

Kagome smiled down at him, catching a glimpse of the complete relaxation and trust others saw so rarely on his face. "Perfect." Taking her time, she brought her thumbs up his neck to his hairline and brought them back down again, working along his spine.

"Do you miss your family?" He asked out of nowhere.

Kagome nodded before realizing that his eyes had finally succumbed to exhaustion and closed. "Of course I do." She sighed. "But I chose to be here. With you."

"That was stupid."

"Shut up."

Inuyasha laughed with what breath he could spare, his tired smile no less bright. He let silence fall over them again as Kagome took the wet rag and draped it over her forehead, holding it in place as she braced one hand on the back of his neck and slowly rocked it back and forth. He gave her complete control, closing his eyes as she gently stretched his neck without straining it. "If you miss your family so much, why don't you go back more often?" He asked, barely above a whisper.

"Because," She responded carefully, "after what happened... it just scared me. Every time I go back, I risk being banished from this era." Kagome laid his head back down on her lap and pushed his hair to the side so it wouldn't get caught. "I just don't think I could deal with that again. I love my family, and they understand that... I belong here."

"You never regret it?" Inuyasha asked, opening his eyes to catch hers in the dimming firelight. There was something about his tone that sounded unsure, almost scared.

Kagome shook her head, unable to break eye contact. "Not possible." She breathed. After all, she'd had three years to think about it. Kagome delved her fingers into his hair and began massaging his scalp from the base of his skull to his temples, pay extra attention around his ears. In that time, both of them had matured, no matter how childish, playful, and stubborn they had remained on the outside. Losing each other without a hope of seeing each other again had changed them both, made them appreciate what they had while they still had it. Kagome had nightmares for a year after with the realization that in her time, Sango and Miroku were long dead, and chances dictated that Inuyasha was too. She imagined his death in terrifying scenarios, unable to save or comfort him in his last moments. It was a reality she couldn't bring herself to face again.

So absorbed in her own thoughts, Kagome didn't notice until she was about to move on that Inuyasha had fallen asleep, not a trace of pain on his face. Her hands stilled in his hair, fingertips just barely brushing against his temples as she watched him breath evenly. The relief was tangible. With a content smile, she continued the head massage, combing her fingers through his hair as calming breezes continued to roll through the open door.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, here we are, back on track! Exams really took it out of me. But, I'm home for spring and summer, and work doesn't start for another few weeks, so I'm hoping to dive right back in here. Forgive me for my long absence the past few weeks. Between getting settled back in at home, and exams, its been hectic. Most of all though, this has just been a hard chapter to get through and still make interesting. This part of a story is always the hardest. I've introduced a few of the problems and gotten everything to kick off, but the main conflict to fuel the story on has yet to come. But, we're building up to it, and we'll see our villain within the next few chapters, so keep with me!

Side note; The dogs serve real narrative and developmental purpose, I promise.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The sky was overcast and Inuyasha was restless. He'd spent the better part of breakfast switching between picking at his food and arguing with Kagome over carrying her for the journey back home, to which she stubbornly declined. When he wasn't arguing or picking, he was pacing, or sitting and bouncing his knee, or tapping his claws on the floor, or just generally driving everyone up the walls. Eventually, Sango threatened to knock him out again, only restraining herself from doing so when Miroku pointed out that they'd have to carry him back. Kagome was just happy he was feeling better, if not slightly annoyed.

Soon enough, it was time to head back out. The morning was dark, storm clouds boiling over the mountains rising up from the valley, but none of them were willing to stay in the village any longer than they needed to. It was just a matter of collecting their pay, and leaving. They could be home by the next afternoon.

Walking through the deserted streets, Kagome sent constant glances toward Inuyasha for any signs of illness or fatigue. The Hanyou barely noticed her, his eyes focused on the centre of the village, ears flicking about at every chirping bird or scuffle in the grass. She didn't say anything. He had every right to be on edge. As they approached the mansion at the centre of the village, its elaborate roof rising over the sea of modest huts, he slowly inched his way closer to her, his arm brushing against her shoulder. By the time they reached the courtyard, he was standing right in front of her.

"Good morning. I trust you rested well." Captain Yorino greeted in all pleasantness from the steps of the mansion, once again flanked by his samurai on either side.

Miroku stepped up, undaunted by the silent display of power in guise of honour. "Yes, and we thank you again for your hospitality." He bowed. "As for the discussion of payment..."

Kagome tuned out at that point, as she always had during their time traveling. In the end, Miroku would manage to get just a little more than they deserved, and they'd all roll their eyes and chastise him but do nothing about it. She doubted it would be any different now. Eyes flickering from Miroku, to Inuyasha's back, and to the mountains, she tried to determine just how long they'd have until the storm broke. Hopefully they'd make it home before then, or at least make as much distance between themselves and this village as possible. Kagome's attention drifted to Captain Yorino, hearing nothing of the conversation. The man was fairly average, like every other Captain she'd met; a war hero, a respected authority, and an arrogant imbecile. Yorino though, sent an instinctual sickness creeping through her veins with one look, like his eyes alone could defile her skin. She jerked her gaze away before he realized she was glaring, her eyes settling on the pale crystal hanging from a chain on his belt.

The soft clinking of coins snapped Kagome from her thoughts, looking back up as Miroku was handed a sac of gold coins and proceeded to store them away in the folds of his robe. Captain Yorino seemed more than eager to give them whatever they wanted. "Now then, if there's nothing else you'll be needing-"

"Your crystal." Kagome interrupted without second thought or hesitation. Inuyasha turned around, staring wide eyed down at her in confusion and warning. Sending him a reassuring nod, she stepped out from behind him.

"I'm sorry?" Yorino raised a brow.

"It's an interesting armor decoration, I've never seen anything like it." Kagome continued. "Could you tell me what kind of gem stone it is?"

Yorino faultered, the hesitation not going unnoticed by the Miko. "It was a gift." He informed her. "From my Master, Lord Takeda Masao. Extremely rare and impossible to acquire, of course, it was no great feat for my Master to find it."

"And he didn't mention the name?"

With a clenched jaw, Yorino let out a sharp breath and answered. "Kami no Ishi. The Godstone."

Kagome frowned, perplexed by the unfamiliar name and how it wrung an inner bell. "Well, it's a beautiful decoration." She nodded, forcing on a smile. "If you ever need our help again, please don't hesitate to call on us." It was hardly what she wanted to tell them after the way Inuyasha had been treated, but she was obligated to be polite. It wasn't wise to make enemies with people like this.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The storm kept at bay behind them, disappearing over the horizon by nightfall with no signs of following them. The night was clear, allowing them the freedom of sleeping under the stars without looking for shelter. It went unspoken, but none of them were eager to enter another village in the area.

"Kami no Ishi. Godstone." Kagome murmured to herself, the name tumbling off her lips as she collected dry twigs for the fire back at camp. The dim glow of the burning logs barely lit her way through the long shadows of the trees, but the moonlight was more than enough. Ever since they'd left that village, the name haunted her thoughts, the image of Yorino's cold, hungry stare enough to make her shiver. Whatever it was about that stone and its owner wasn't letting her be at peace. "Godstone..."

"You really can't let that go, huh?"

Kagome shrieked, startled out of her skin as she spun around, tripping over her own feet. Deft arms caught her around the waist before she could hit the ground. "Inuyasha!" She complained, frowning up at him and his amused smile, brilliant in the glowing moonlight. "You made me drop my sticks."

"Klutz." Inuyasha fired back, rolling his eyes as he put her back on her feet and bent down to help her keep up the mess. "Y'know you really should be paying more attention. I could'a been a bandit or a demon and you would've been dead by now."

Kagome elbowed his arm as she stooped down to gather the sticks. "I'd say a rude Hanyou is nearly as bad. I'm quivering in fear." Inuyasha nudged her back, and if it weren't for the limited light and sticks bundled in their arms, she could have instigated that nudging war. "How can you let it go?" She sighed, picking up his initial question.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I guess I just haven't been going crazy over it."

"But why?" Kagome asked as she stood, sticks tucked under her arm. "Whatever that crystal was, I'm sure it had something to do with what happened to you. He said it was a gift from his Master and practically impossible to find, but that Bandit we ran into had the same crystal around his neck, and it put you in pain too."

"No, it didn't." Inuyasha replied tersely as he rose to his feet as well. "Kagome, just forget about it."

The sudden change in the Hanyou's mood put Kagome on edge. "Why should I? This thing has the power to hurt you. I'm not just going to forget about it!" She argued.

Inuyasha growled under his breath, the effort it was taking not to snap building tension in his shoulders. "Forget about it." He repeated. "There are plenty of things that can hurt demons, humans, spirits, anything. You said yourself that one day they would call this time the Era of War. There's a weapon for everyone."

Kagome averted her eyes to the damp grass, chewing at her bottom lip. He was right. With all they'd seen, and all they'd been through, why should she get hung up on it? There were more powerful weapons out there that could do any of them a thousand times more damage. That was the problem though. She knew that perfectly well, and yet she still couldn't forget that one pale crystal. "Fine." She gave up, looking back up at the hanyou only to find his attention diverted elsewhere. She followed his gaze to a thicket of bushes across a bubbling creek, where quiet whimpers and whines muted in the branches.

Inuyasha leapt over the creek and approached the bush, pulling back the branches to see what was inside. Kagome followed closely behind, tip toeing her way over the rocks on the creekbed, the hem of her hakama dipping into the muddy water. "What is it?"

Inuyasha's hand shot out to keep her from getting too close, eyes never straying from the bush. Catching onto his body language, Kagome made no protest, but managed to peek over his shoulder. Two dogs sat huddled in the bush, one laying on its side while the other curled around it protectively, baring its teeth up at them in a threatening growl.

"Inuyasha..." She began, her voice heavy with pity. "It's hurt." The collapsed dog's fur was matted with dried blood and dirt, it's front left paw hanging limp and swollen. "We have to help it."

Inuyasha groaned under his breath, finding no reason to reject her to his annoyance. "Okay, okay, just move back." He sighed, nudging her farther back behind him.

Kagome glanced at him in confusion, but obeyed regardless, backing up a few steps so she could watch from a distance. The feral dog turned and barked at the movement, turning its aggression toward Kagome. Inuyasha side stepped into its view of her, chest tense and ears high. The dog redirected its aggression to him, mirroring his body language. Long moments of silence filled only by low snarling passed before Inuyasha moved again, turning his body sideways and lowering down on his haunches. The dog reacted only by barking in warning. Slowly, Inuyasha krept toward them, crouched side steps taking an easy pace as the dog's demeanor began to shift. Kagome held her breath as she watched the exchange. The dog began to pace around its injured companion, walking hesitantly between it and Inuyasha. When it approached him, Inuyasha stilled and held out his hand, allowing the dog to sniff his palm. With one lick, the entire atmosphere switched. The dog lowered its tail and stepped out of the way, allowing Inuyasha to carefully pick up its companion. Hefting it into his arms, he turned around to find Kagome staring at him. "What?"

"How did you do that?" She asked in genuine interest.

Inuyasha shrugged, looking down at the once viscous dog now standing relaxed at his side. "I told him to calm the hell down so I could help her."

"You didn't say anything."

Inuyasha quirked a brow. "What, did you expect me to bark at him?" When Kagome didn't answer, it became clear that she did. He rolled his eyes. "It's about body language, stupid."

"Well, forgive me for not speaking Dog." Kagome huffed. Rolling his eyes again, Inuyasha began to make his way back toward the creek, one dog in his arms and the other trotting along at his side. Now that they were out of the bushes and in the moonlight, Kagome could see them clearly. The male's coat was mostly a salt and pepper grey, with black paws and a white chest, while the female, for what she could see through the blood and grim, was a darker tan. Breaking off from Inuyasha for the moment, the male galloped up to Kagome and charged her, tail and ears on alert. Seeing this Inuyasha stepped right in front of her and reached down to sharply nip the dog on the neck with his fingers. The dog's demeanor changed again, calming down as he accepted what Inuyasha had communicated to him. Kagome stood on her toes and rested her chin on the Hanyou's shoulder to look down at the dog, who now sat patiently in front of them. "What did you tell him that time?"

"He wasn't sure about you and could have snapped, so I told him you're mine- uh, I mean, my pack, part of my pack." He cleared his throat, stumbling desperately to catch his mistake. "Let's go."

His slip didn't go unnoticed by Kagome, but after weighing the pros and cons of teasing him about it, she decided to let it go. The red tint to his cheeks told her that he was embarrassed enough on his own already. Following him through the dark back to the camp, Kagome sent periodic glances down to the feral dog trotting back and forth between them, sniffing at them in curiosity with all signs of aggression gone. Trusting that Inuyasha had showed him that they were no threat, she chanced putting her palm out for the dog to get a better sniff at her scent. The dog stuck its cold nose in her palm, giving her a few licks before pushing its whole head into her hand. Kagome smiled and scratched it behind the ears, watching its tail wag contently.

The moment they entered the small clearing where Sango and Miroku had been setting up camp, the grey dog stopped at the boundary of the forest and stood watching nervously as Inuyasha lowered the tan dog to the ground by the fire. Kagome looked between it and Inuyasha, who caught her gaze and shrugged her off, silently telling her not to worry about it.

"Should we even ask?" Sango asked from where she sat on the other side of the fire, gutting a pile of fish to cook.

"Inuyasha's a big softie." Kagome smirked as lowered herself down beside the injured dog. She'd kept everything she brought on the trip in a cloth folded and tied around her shoulders, the way Sango taught her. Once she was settled, she untied it and laid it out, taking a few bandages and ointments.

Inuyasha scoffed. "You're the one who wanted to help it."

"You're the one who speaks Dog." Kagome fired back mockingly as she began treating the tan dog's wounds. "That's a good girl." She murmured when she whimpered and flinched away from the ointment. The grey dog at the boundary of the forest whined and paced anxiously at the sound, but stilled again with one sharp look from Inuyasha, lowering itself down with its head on its paws. Finally getting the reaction he wanted, Inuyasha nodded, allowing the dog to trot into the camp and plant himself right at his side.

"Quit following me around." Inuyasha grunted as he crouched down next to Kagome, frowning when the dog did the same. The dog just looked at him through soulful eyes, huffed, and looked back at its companion.

"He likes you." Kagome smiled as she rubbed a different ointment on the tan dog's paw and began to wrap it.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "He just knows I'm the boss."

"Are you, now?" Sango challenged teasingly as she set the fish on sticks by the flames.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Inuyasha smirked and held his head high. "Yeah, I am."

"Alright then, you can go get your own fish." Sango shrugged.

The Hanyou deflated immediately. "Alright, alright fine, but as far as the dog's concerned, I'm pack leader."

"Is that what we are?" Miroku asked, helping Sango skewer the fish to prepare for cooking. "Your pack?"

There was that red tint to his cheeks again. Lowering his head in thought, Inuyasha stared into the flames. "Don't get me wrong, it's not about that dominance bullshit. It's not about territory and claiming property. A pack is just a family, blood or not. That's how they see it." He explained. "So yeah. Not _my_ pack, but my pack as in the pack I'm a part of."

"That's such a beautiful way of putting it." Kagome beamed, laughing as Inuyasha's cheeks flared again before he could huff and turn away. It was no secret that the Hanyou got embarrassed over things like that, but when he found the courage to talk to them openly like that it never failed to warm her heart. "Alright," She chirped, tying off the bandage around the tan dog's paw, "that should do it!" Reaching over to her cloth to take a canister of water, she opened it and poured some out into her palm, allowing each dog to lap at it. "Jun and Kei."

Inuyasha perked up in confusion at the sudden names. "Huh?"

"Jun for the boy, and Kei for this sweet girl." Kagome smiled as she gently pet the tan dog's side.

"Oh, no." Inuyasha shook his head. "We're not keeping the dogs, Kagome."

"We keep you." Kagome teased.

"We are. Not. Keeping. The dogs."

"Regardless." Miroku laughed, tossing a fish to the two dogs. "There's enough fish here for everyone. Eat up."

The night drew on in companionable chatter, basking under the starlit sky and the glow of the fire. By twilight, Miroku and Sango were sleeping huddled together at the other end of their camp, Inuyasha and Kagome were laying on their backs staring up at the stars, while 'Jun and Kei' huddled by the fire.

It was quiet little moments like this when Kagome realized just how much she missed the Feudal Era. Countless nights, separated from this world, she's spent with her bedroom window open trying to see the stars through the lights of Tokyo. Sometimes she'd even spend a few hours under the Sacred Tree, resting back against the trunk and trying to feel Inuyasha through their one last connection. She always ended up returning to her own bed, though. The nights were bitterly cold, and she couldn't feel as safe as she did with Inuyasha watching over her, even with her home just across the shrine. It was never the same, and after her time in the Feudal Era, she knew she never would be the same. Not after the freedom and fear she'd felt so deeply and without holding back. Those nights were some of the hardest to get through.

"Kagome?"

"Hm?" Kagome let her head fall to the side to see Inuyasha sitting up and refusing to make eye contact with her.

"That, uh... that thing you did last night." He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck.

Kagome propped herself up on his elbows. "The massage?"

Inuyasha's eyes flickered hesitantly to catch hers, immediately tearing them away in embarrassment. "Yeah, that. Do you think you could... do that again?"

The uncertainty in his tone struck Kagome at an odd angle. "Are you still in pain?" She worried.

"No! No, I just..." He trailed off, shrinking in on himself.

Kagome smiled, no trace of teasing in her voice as she pushed herself up. "You just liked it?" She finished for him. Situations like this, when Inuyasha let himself be vulnerable around her, were precious and few. She wasn't about to ruin that by stepping over the line. "Sure, here." Shifting herself around, she gestured to her lap, letting him lean back and rest his head against her. "If you liked it so much, you could have just said it. I don't mind."

Kagome's skilled hands slowly beginning the ritual by squeezing along his shoulders had Inuyasha melting in her lap. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to make it too easy for ya." He laughed under his breath.

"Oh, heavens forbid." Following the practiced motions, Kagome took her time at each step, making sure she could feel the ever-tense muscles in the Hanyou's neck and shoulders easing.

"What about you? Does your ankle still hurt?" He asked.

"Nope! I'm fit as a fiddle."

"Huh?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

Chirping crickets in the trees and the crackle of firewood were all that was left to fill the night air, and for a moment, Kagome thought Inuyasha had fallen asleep again. She'd have stopped to check if he hadn't opened his eyes again to look up at the night sky. The stars reflected in his eyes, golden irises washed in pin point lights. She could have drowned in them if a faint whimper hadn't caught her attention. Looking up toward the fire, she watched as Jun readjusted himself to curl around Kei, and began to gently lick at her face and neck.

"What's he doing?" She whispered to Inuyasha, nodding her head toward the dogs when he looked up at her in confusion.

Inuyasha glanced to the side and watched the dog's behaviour for a moment before letting his head fall back into Kagome's lap. "She's in pain, and he senses that so he's comforting her. It's grooming, but it's like showing her that he knows, and that he'll take care of her. That's just what mates do for each other." He explained.

"Mates?" Kagome repeated.

"Jun is Kei's mate. Like... I don't know, dogs just choose mates, like people choose lovers, or just platonic partners. Whatever they are, they're inseparable. Some dogs take a mate, some take more than one, others don't, it depends."

"Ah." Kagome nodded, a slow grin blossoming on her lips. "You called them Jun and Kei. We're so keeping them."

"We are not." Inuyasha grunted.

"Well, they seem to like us, so we might not have a choice in the matter." She laughed, letting the sound trail off as another thought came to mind. Jun continued to gently lick and nuzzle Kei as she rested, occasionally nuzzling him back. "Do Inu Yokai choose mates?"

Inuyasha's face lit up in bright red, sputtering to answer. "W-Why do you ask that?!"

Trying her hardest not to laugh and risk agitating his ego, Kagome shrugged and continued working along his neck. "Just curious. You seem to understand dogs so much, I just wondered if its because Inu Yokai have the same sort of ways."

"Well..." Inuyasha began, furiously fighting down the colour on his cheeks, "kind of. First of all, I understand them, and I guess that's because sometimes I think the same way. It's kind of like how Koga runs with wolves, its just natural. But we don't... y'know, choose _mates_. That's just a dog thing. It's just a husband, or a wife, or some kind of partner. But, whatever you call it, it is _not _like how Koga tried to do to you. We don't just throw you over your shoulder and haul you off. It's mutual, and there's a damn lot more respect." He shrugged. "But there's a lot I still don't know about Inu Yokai. I was an outcast, raised by humans with my mother. When she died, I was still physically a kid. I went to my Father's people, and they rejected me. So, everything I learned, I learned on my own."

By that point, none of this was a surprise to Kagome, but that didn't make it much easier to hear. Delving her fingers into his hair, she began to massage his scalp and watched with satisfaction as Inuyasha crumbled under her touch. She didn't comment about how sorry she was that it happened to him, or how she wished people had been more caring to him; he knew. It wouldn't change anything. "Well, it sure comes in handy with Jun and Kei."

"Kagome, we're not keeping the dogs."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jun and Kei followed at their heels the remainder of the journey home. Inuyasha had crossed his arms over his chest, muttering about Kagome's habit of taking in strays with a few mock glares at Miroku and Sango, but in the end didn't protest. The rest of them just rolled their eyes and let him mope. He was over it within a few hours, and even carried Kei when she got tired and started lagging behind. Jun trotted dutifully at her side while she was carried, occasionally giving Inuyasha a side eye as if to say "Watch it."

They made it back to the village around late afternoon that day, walking across the rice paddies in the golden setting sun. Kagome stretched her arms over her head and took in a deep breath of the familiar fresh air, humid and clean. Kei now pranced at her side, running ahead to take in her new surroundings and occasionally receiving a reminding nip from Jun when she got too excited and could hurt herself. Kagome watched the exchange adoringly, but let them run off to explore the rest of the village when they parted down a different path. Inuyasha seemed to trust them enough to let them go, and that was enough for her.

Eventually, Miroku and Sango went their separate ways too, heading up the path to their home, no doubt longing to see their children. That left Inuyasha and Kagome to make their way toward Kaede's old hut, passed down to the next shrine keeper. Pulling back the mat to be met with the empty room hit Kagome like a cold wind. Their journey had been a long distraction, but the painful reality of Kaede's passing lingered. The Priestess' belongings remained untouched where she had left them; a pot against the wall, an open cupboard, her sandals sitting neatly in the dirt before the lifted wooden floor.

Noticing her down turned mood, Inuyasha said nothing, but moved past her and tossed a few dry logs from the corner pile into the fire pit. With one strong strike of flint against a steel knife, the sparks caught the kindling and the room was bathed in soft firelight. Appreciating the warmth, Kagome slipped out of her shoes and knelt down beside him. "Are you gonna stay the night?" She asked quietly. "I know you don't like being cooped up inside."

"You kidding?" Inuyasha scoffed, trying to muffle a laugh under his breath. "I'm not turning my back on you for a second. You might trip and hurt your ankle again, klutz."

Kagome closed her eyes and hummed under his breath, leaning against his side. Nuzzling her head against his shoulder, she sighed with a content smile and simply felt the fire's heat against her face. In some ways, things were right back to normal, and in others, they would never be the same again. That was fine though, as long as she could still have this.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Someone poured a bucket of cold water over her head. Kagome shot up the a startled yelp, sputtering and coughing as she scrambled to orientate herself. Bright morning light streamed in from the windows, a cool breeze playing with the hanging mat over the door. Somehow overnight, the hut was suddenly filled with potted plants. Whipping her head around to try figuring just what the hell was going on, she whacked Inuyasha with a face full of soaking wet hair, effectively waking him up where he sat against the wall beside her mat. The Hanyou jolted awake, wiping at his face with his Haori sleeve. "What the fu- you again!" He growled.

"You're late!" A familiar, boisterous voice announced from above her. Kagome looked behind her to see the Priest Takuya standing over her with with a dripping bucket in his hands. "You are very late!"

"F-For what?!" Kagome shouted incredulously, wringing the water out of her hair.

"Your first day of training with me!" Takuya explained proudly, setting the bucket down at his side.

Kagome groaned, but rose to her feet anyway. "Well, I might have been on time if you'd told me it was my first day of training."

"Ah! Rule number one. You must be prepared for anything, even the most unexpected of situations." Takuya lectured as he crossed the room to scrutinize a group of plants. Taking two of the smaller pots, he tucked one under his arm and shoved the other into Kagome's hands. "Come! Today, you will learn about the ancient practices of channeling your energy." Ushering Kagome out the door before she had the chance to respond, Takyua launched into a lecture about the delicacy of the plants, the life they held, and how her potential power was just a bud in the earth.

Kagome managed to worm out of his grasp long enough to laugh despite the rude awakening and peak her head back through the door. She shrugged sheepishly at the disgruntled Hanyou. "Good morning!" She chirped as she was dragged off again.

Maybe things were going to change more than they had thought.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

I think you guys are really going to enjoy Takuya, or at least I hope you will. I remember reading a lot of fics where Kagome was, through some magic or single event, granted these amazing powers, but I never really bought into it. I'm making the girl work for it.

Well, that's all for today, but now that I'm home and free as a bird, I'll be able to start pumping out chapters again! Leave your thoughts and comments, and by all means, criticize away. It'll make the story that much better for everyone.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't have much to say this time around, but I'm just hoping the chapter speaks for itself. The plot is starting to build up, so really pay attention to any little hints I drop, because I guarantee they're intentional.

And on a final note, I really suggest you check out the companion blog to this fic, inuyashasforest on tumblr. I always post little hints and songs that I use to sort of set the mood while I write, or what I imagine as background noise, so you can listen while you read!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Inuyasha rarely actually went into the village centre. Maybe village centre was a strong word. It was a poor village, and nothing close to the bustling hubs they'd seen in their travels, but there was a small market place set up in the middle of the village where traveling salesmen and local farmers could trade. Not much, but even so, Inuyasha tended to avoid it, for both the crowds and the strong smells and shouting. Even in the past three years, when he'd come to think of this place as the closest to a home he'd have without Kagome, he avoided the market place when possible.

Today, though, he strode in, bought what he had gone for with his share of the Extermination pay, and strode right out without making a scene about it. Cloth wrapped package tucked under his arm as he made his way leisurely down the dirt path, the Hanyou couldn't help but think about how domestic and human the simple task felt. It hadn't killed him, but he'd have to go into the forest later and hunt something just to maintain his pride.

Approaching Kaede's- now Kagome's- hut, he came upon a strange sight. While Jun and Kei rested under the shade sharing a rabbit they'd caught, the Priestess and her new Teacher sat cross legged by the garden fence, a flower pot in front of each of them. The sprouts they had started off with had now grown into budding little stalks, but far from fully bloomed.

Inuyasha tossed the package through the open door of the hut and strolled over to join them. "Whatcha doin'?" He asked, leaping up onto one of the fence posts and sitting on the perch.

Kagome peeked one eye open to look up at him, trying to conceal her bubbling laughter. "We're making the plants grow, Inuyasha. With magic." He could hear in her tone that she didn't believe a word of it herself.

"Concentrate!" Takuya exclaimed, reaching for the branch in the bucket of water beside him. With a flick of his wrist, he splashed Kagome with the water in punishment, only serving to make her laugh again. Still, she obeyed, closing her eyes again to concentrate on pulling energy into herself and channeling it into the plant.

Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh at her expense, receiving a glare from Takuya. "And you! Stop distracting my student!" He ordered, raising his hand to splash Inuyasha with the branch. The Hanyou swiped the branch from his hand and snap it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground. Takuya blanched, staring at the broken branch before glaring up at the culprit. "You are a bad influence."

"Glad you're finally figuring that out." Inuyasha scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Takuya scrambled to his feet. "I'll teach you to show a Priest some respect, young man!" He hollered, taking his water bucket and holding it over his head to pour on the Hanyou. Inuyasha smirked and lept out of the way, flipping back and landing on the roof of Kagome's hut. "Get back here!" Takuya shouted up at him.

Inuyasha crossed his legs and rested his elbow on his knee, holding his chin in his hand. "And if I don't?"

"Inuyasha, play nice." Kagome chastised him, daring to crack an eye open to catch his gaze.

Takuya turned around to address Kagome, the bucket still high over his head. "Back to your meditation, young woman. I want that flower to blossom by the end of the day." He ordered. While he was distracted, Inuyasha took the opportunity to jump down off the roof, the ball of his foot landing on the rim of the bucket. He pushed off, leaping back into the air and effectively knocking the bucket over. Takuya yelped as the water dumped over his head, soaking him through his clothing. "Disrespectful youth!" Takuya wailed, taking chase to that laughing Hanyou with the bucket still on his head. Inuyasha could have easily outrun him, but jumped around and dodged every half witted swipe of the broken tree branch. The two of them ran around in circles around the garden, hut, and through the streets of the village, Takuya shouting in frustration and Inuyasha egging him on. Jun and Kei soon joined in on the fun, barking and galloping at their heels. All the while, Kagome sat perfectly still and tried to finish her meditation; but even she could only handle so much.

A demonic aura approaching the village finally gave her an excuse to open her eyes, looking up to see a familiar silhouette descending from the sky. Kagome smiled to herself, stretching her arms high over her head and rising to her feet. "Okay, I think that's enough for one day." She sighed to herself as she shifted her attention to Inuyasha and Takuya still running around in circles. "Inuyasha!" She called out to him. "Your brother is here!"

Inuyasha immediately skidded to a stop, eyes snapping up to the sky. Takuya ran up from behind, prepared with whack the Hanyou over the head with his branch, when Inuyasha reached out behind him without looking and pushed the bucket over his face. The Priest falling to the ground and struggling to get the bucket off his head went ignored as Inuyasha walked to the middle of the street, where Sesshomaru was touching down. Au-Un descended right behind him, carrying Rin on its back.

Kagome made her way to his side, smiling as Rin scrambled off of Au-Un's back and skipped over to her. "Lady Kagome!" She cheered, throwing her arms around her waist.

"Welcome back, Rin!" Kagome returned the embrace. "I hope you enjoyed your time with Sesshomaru."

"Yes, I did! We traveled to the Palace of My Lord's Mother, and then to the ocean, where we saw strange ships, and I found this sea shell!" The girl announced proudly, taking a shell the size of her palm out of her kimono.

"It's so pretty!" Kagome smiled, running her hand over the glinting surface, polished carefully by Rin's kimono sleeve. "Oh, Rin I want you to meet..." She stopped short, glancing back over her shoulder to see Takuya still struggling to get the bucket off his head. "One moment."

With Kagome stalking off to help the man squirming on the ground, Rin left the shouts of "Hold still!", "It's stuck!", "You're just pulling it off wrong!", behind her and returned to her Lord's side. Tucking her shell back into her kimono, she clamped her hands behind her back and smiled up at Sesshomaru. "Won't you stay a while, my Lord?"

"Not this time, Rin." Sesshomaru acknowledged, glancing down at her. "You will stay here then?"

"Yes, my Lord." She nodded. It had been a painful parting the first time he'd left her at the village, and the first few times he'd come to visit, but she could honestly say she was happy with her life surrounded by humans.

"Very well." Sesshomaru nodded. The commotion behind them caught his attention, a disgusted glare crossing his features as he watched his brother and the Priestess argue with an older man with a bucket on his head. Inuyasha finally rolled his eyes and yanked the bucket off the man's head, tossing it off to the side and crossing his arms over his chest as the woman chastised him for being so rude. She looked about two seconds away from issuing that subjugation command when Inuyasha finally got the message and backed off.

Not for the first time, Sesshomaru second guessed his choice in caretakers for Rin.

"Woman." He called, his voice cutting through the argument and commanding silence. "I leave Rin with you now. You are expected to ensure she has everything she needs."

Kagome nodded with a reassuring smile that had no effect on the stoic demon. "She's in good hands." She promised. Sesshomaru nodded and turning around to take his leave, only to pause when the woman spoke up again. "Hang on, something's missing here... where is Jaken?" Usually the little imp was clinging to Sesshomaru's side, or scolding Rin for something or other. It was unusual for him to be missing.

Rin was quick to answer. "Jaken was given a task by my Lord to gather information on a strange crystal possessed a rather rude man we ran into on our journey to the ocean." She explained.

Kagome and Inuyasha immediately tensed, sending each other an understanding side glance. "Sesshomaru." Inuyasha grunted, jerking his head toward the garden fence. The elder brother said nothing and made no acknowledgment, but walked toward it. Inuyasha joined him.

"Rin," Kagome beckoned her, "why don't you get settled in again? We can put your shell on the corner chest. Oh, and this is Takuya. He'll be finishing my Preistess training."

After having regained his composure and kicked the bucket away for good measure, Takuya smiled down at the girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady."

Rin bowed, looking back up at him with her ever bright expression. "And to you! Come on Kagome, I want to tell you all about the ocean!" She cheered, taking her hand and dragging her off into the hut. Kagome laughed and allowed herself to be pulled away, glancing over her shoulders at the two brothers before they went inside.

Inuyasha leaned against the fence, hands shoved in the sleeves of his haori as he looked out across the village and toward the west. "I don't believe in coincidences."

"You have encountered it as well then." Sesshomaru noted.

"Yeah, and it's a royal pain in the ass." The Hanyou sighed, lifting his gaze to the sky. "They called it the Godstone. Whatever it is, I've run into it twice. With your encounter, that makes three people who possess it. I think it's pretty safe to say that there's more than that out there."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "It's nothing more than a nuisance, but a nuisance I intend to rid of."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Go right ahead." Rin's giggling laughter and Kagome's sweet voice answering penetrated the walls of the hut, his ears flickering toward the sound. "I didn't think it was anything to worry about, but... now I'm not sure. I've got a bad feeling about it." If Sesshomaru found cause to look into it, maybe it was more serious than he thought.

"I will be the one to destroy it." Sesshomaru declared, finally looking his brother in the eyes. "Do not get in my way."

Inuyasha shrugged at the challenge. "I've got better things to do."

"Like spend your time playing village with your woman?"

Inuyasha growled in warning, hand twitching toward tessaiga at his side. He would have drawn it, if only to make a point, had Rin not run out from the hut and skidded to a stop in front of his brother.

"I almost forgot to say goodbye!" She exclaimed, bowing low in front of Sesshomaru.

Hostility toward Inuyasha forgotten for the moment, Sesshomaru turned his full attention to the girl. "Take care, Rin."

Rin smiled and stood up straight again. There were never any embraces or final words other than simple goodbyes when they parted, and she was perfectly content with that. Leaving her Lord to continue speaking with Inuyasha, she turned and ran back toward the hut, where Kagome and Takuya were emerging again.

"Humans and Demons cannot share lives, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru uttered suddenly. Inuyasha whipped around to glare at him in confusion. The elder brother remained unmoved. "Half demon or not, you possess the longevity given to you by our father." Sesshomaru shifted his gaze to Rin, watching as she skipped at Kagome's heels. "You will watch her grow old and die, while you remain young."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called. She held a shallow basket tucked under her arm, kimono sleeve pushed out of the way. "We're going to look for flowers in the forest, come with us!"

"Y-Yeah, in a minute." Inuyasha responded, startled and confused by his brother's behaviour. "Where the hell is this coming from, Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru let his eyes linger on the girl before snapping back to the Hanyou. "You will watch her die, or you will share the same fate as our father."

Inuyasha snarled. "Is that a threat?"

"It is a fact. And a warning." Sesshomaru turned his back on Inuyasha. "I will not have another meaningless death disgrace the Inu Yokai."

Inuyasha slowly stood straight again. "And since when am I part of the Inu Yokai?"

Sesshomaru didn't respond. After a long pause, he crouched down and leapt into the sky, soaring into the clouds and soon out of sight with Au-Un trailing behind him. A roar echoed off the surrounding mountains, a great white cloud shifting into the shape of a dog's head above them.

"Wow, what a show off." Kagome commented as she stood beside the Hanyou, shielding her hand over her eyes as she looked up. "Well, are you coming?"

"Alright, alright, impatient woman." Inuyasha rolled his eyes, his voice lacking conviction.

Kagome picked up on it immediately. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Inuyasha grunted. "He just really gets under my skin."

Kagome shrugged, balancing her basket on her hip. "Siblings will do that to you. Sota developed a real attitude the past year, thinking he was a big tough guy, but I managed to knock him down a few pegs."

"Yeah... not sure if it's the same thing, but I get it." Inuyasha huffed. "Now, are we going or not?"

"And _I'm _ the impatient one." Kagome mumbled. "Rin! Come on! Maybe later we can stop by Miroku and Sango's place. Kohaku might still be there." She added.

Rin's reaction was enough to draw a laugh out of both of them, her eyes widening and cheeks flushing with pink. "H-He is?"

"He might be." Kagome shrugged. "I'm told he usually doesn't stay long, but we only returned a day or two ago. Maybe Sango convinced him to stay for a while. I guess we'll have to go over there to find out. Why, do you want to see him?"

Rin bowed her head to cover her reddening face, drawing circles in the dirt with her sandals. "Well, it's just that I have not see him in a very long time, and I supposed I'd like to say hello, just to see how he is fairing, and-" She stopped short, shrinking under Kagome's understanding smile. "Don't tell him."

"Your secret's safe with me." Kagome promised, receiving a relieved sigh from the girl.

"Wait," Inuyasha frowned, "don't tell him what?"

"Nothing, Inuyasha." Reaching down to take his hand, she gave him a gentle tug toward the forest, nudging him playfully with her shoulder. Rin followed behind them, skipping her way down the path and stopping at any curiosity she found.

"Hey!" Takuya called from the garden fence they had left behind. "You haven't finished your lesson!"

"Sorry, I'll work extra hard tomorrow, I promise!" Kagome called back to him, beaming up at Inuyasha with an adoring laugh. "I just got distracted!"

Takuya sighed, figuring that trying to get her to come back was futile at that point. He'd learned by at point that when Kagome set her mind to something, it was impossible to deter her; a positive or negative trait depending on how it was looked at. With a sigh, he gave in and stooped down to pick up their forgotten plants. His hand paused over Kagome's pot, eyes widening. The young blossom of a bellflower was just beginning to bloom on its sprout, hanging on for dear life. The Priest looked up and watched as Kagome and Inuyasha headed off across the rice paddies to the forest, she hanging off his arm and the Hanyou pretending to be indifferent. Smiling fondly, he gathered his pots and headed toward his own hut.

That young man was a distraction indeed.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It wasn't long before Rin wandered off wherever her mind took her with Jun and Kei trotting behind, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome lounging in a flowerbed on the hillside glade. Beams of sunlight broke through the few clouds passing overhead, pushed by the breezes rolling through. Kagome had pushed her arms through the cuts in her kimono sleeves and tied them behind her back again, leaving the fabric only on her shoulders. Sitting cross legged, she picked through the flowers and tied them together in a chain, occasionally looking up just to admire the natural beauty. Inuyasha laid back beside her, arms folding under his head and ears constantly twitching. She assumed he was listening to Rin, making sure she was safe farther into the forest. Restraining the urge to reach out and tweak his ears, Kagome focused back on the flowers, tying the chain into a crown and promptly sticking it on Inuyasha's head.

The Hanyou made a face, cracking his eyes open to look up at the intruding flowers. "What is this?" He asked as he plucked it off his head.

"Careful, I worked hard on that!" Kagome protested. "It's a flower crown. I was making it for Rin, but you looked so cute napping like that."

"I ain't _cute_." Inuyasha argued as he sat up and dropped the flower crown onto Kagome's head. "There. Better."

Kagome's cheeks tinted red, frozen in place with the flowers dipping down in front of her eye. She couldn't even think to formulate a response, trying to figure out if it was just her over thinking things, or if Inuyasha had just inadvertently called her cute. It shouldn't have been that big a deal, she wasn't fifteen anymore, but her brain just didn't seem to understand that. Her paralysis didn't last long, however. As another breeze flowed through the glade, bringing with it a strong unearthly aura, Kagome shot up, the pulsing energy tingling the hairs on the back of her neck.

Inuyasha picked up on her tension immediately, following her gaze to the forest where Goshinboku's branches stretched over the treetops. "Kagome?"

"There's something in the forest... I don't kn-"

Inuyasha jumped to his feet. "Jun and Kei are barking."

"Rin." Kagome paled. Inuyasha grunted, reaching down to haul her up and onto his back before either of them could say a word. Shooting off down the hill, Kagome's flower crown flew off her head and fell in their wake. Her hands tightened on the Hanyou's shoulders, the aura growing stronger the farther into the forest they ran. It wasn't long before she could hear dogs barking over the howling wind in her ears. Inuyasha skidded to a stop at the edge of the clearing, letting Kagome scramble off his back as they ran toward the tree together.

The aura had them both stunned still the moment they entered the space. Jun and Kei barked at the base of the tree from a few feet back, the fur on their backs standing on end, but not displaying full on aggression; they were nervous. They had every right to be. Rin played under the shade of Goshinboku, twirling in circles as she sang with her companion, a girl about her age who sat on the roots with a piece of embroidered fabric in her lap.

"_Flickering Lanterns, floating in the sky  
__Though we may part, this is not goodbye  
__Flickering Lanterns, tell me not goodbye  
__Till we meet again, our promise in the sky."_

Noticing their presence for the first time, both girls looked up at them. Rin smiled and waved them over. "Lord Inuyasha! Lady Kagome! Come dance with us!" She called.

Kagome glanced between Rin and her new friend, the source of the aura that had drawn them there. She appeared normal enough, but some internal part of her could see the truth. She wasn't really there.

Inuyasha went rigid beside her. "That's..."

The girl looked up at them, her unruly hair falling back to reveal a patch of cloth tied over her right eye. "Sister!" She cheered, scrambling off the roots and racing across the clearing toward Kagome.

Kagome took a step back, watching as the spirit threw her arms open to her and disappeared the moment they came in contact. A strong gust of wind replaced the embrace. Kagome's eyes snapped up to Inuyasha's, the understanding heavy in their gaze. "Kaede..." Kagome breathed.

Rin slowly stilled as she watched her friend disappear in the shadow of the tree's branches. Jun and Kei immediately calmed, sitting calm and on alert beside her. In her confusion, she looked up to Kagome and Inuyasha for answers.

"Uh... let's go, Rin." Kagome held out her hand to the girl and offering no other explanation. She was still reeling from the realization herself, and she didn't want to upset her. Glancing up at Inuyasha, she shook her head, silently telling him not to say anything about Kaede. If her spirit was lingering around the tree, this probably wouldn't be the last they'd see of her, and they could figure it out then. Inuyasha nodded, folding his arms in his haori sleeves as Rin took Kagome's hand and swung it between them.

"That certainly was strange. I had no idea she was a spirit." Rin commented, looking back over her shoulder to wave the dogs along with them. "She had a lovely voice though, and that song was so beautiful." Letting go of Kagome's hand, Rin skipped ahead of them and sang to Kei as she trotted after her.

"_Flickering Lanterns, carried down the stream  
__Things are not always as they seem  
__Flickering Lanterns, broken at the seem  
__Heed the warning, drowning in the stream."_

"Lanterns..." Kagome mused, glancing up at Inuyasha as a thought came to mind. "That package that you had this morning, what was it?

"Materials." Inuyasha answered. "To make Lanterns."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

_A crack of thunder._

_Some ethereal force tipped her over the edge, and suddenly, Kagome was falling. Voices shouting after her echoed off the cliff, overpowered by the roar of Inuyasha calling her name. The orange cliff rose above her as she fell through open air toward the beach below. The sky was burning in gold and blood red, clouds pitch black. The Moon eclipsed the Sun and set itself on fire, and all the while she was _falling_. _

_A glint of light from the top of the cliff flashed down at her as a figure leapt over the edge, falling faster and faster toward her. Inuyasha, tessaiga outstretched to give him more weight, had jumped after her. Slowly, he fell closer to her, the golden light in his eyes eclipsing like the Moon to the Sun. His hair became dark. Kagome realized in a panic that he was human; both of them human as they fell to the shore below. Inuyasha wrapped his arm around her waist, curling around her and holding her body flush against his. He whispered something in her ear, his voice swallowed by the eclipse drawing in all sound. _

Her eyes flew open before they hit the ground. Kagome lurched up from her sleeping mat, a scream caught in her throat. Firm hands held onto her shoulders. She fought against them, struggling in defense until she realized that Inuyasha hovered before her, eyes wide and ears flat against his head. "Kagome, it was just a nightmare!"

Kagome heaved for breath, staring up at Inuyasha with wide and fearful eyes. "The- The Eclipse, you jumped after me!" She rambled, one foot still in the surreal reality of her dream.

"It was just a nightmare. Kagome, _breathe_."

She nodded, mind freeing her from a blind panic as she began to wake up. His hair was white, that was all she needed to know to calm down. Kagome slumped against him, burying her face against his shoulder to find comfort in his warmth. Taking a moment to get over his hesitation, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her. "What the hell was that about?" He sighed.

"Sorry..." She mumbled, her apology muffled by the fabric of his haori.

"Don't be stupid, you don't have to apologize."

It was the middle of the night. The village outside their door was still in the dead of the darkness, but the rest of the world was alive with wind, crickets, and moonlight. They'd gotten back from their afternoon in the forest hours ago, after a dinner with Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, and the children. Rin had spent the entire night at Kohaku's side, not that he seemed to mind. It'd been a peaceful night up until then. Thankfully, Rin hadn't woken up. The girl slept like a rock.

Pulling back from the embrace, Kagome wiped at her tear stained cheeks and gathered her composure. Inuyasha let his arms fall back to his side, ears still flat against his head. "Do you... want to talk about it?" He asked reluctantly.

Kagome laughed through her lingering fear and shook her head. She could tell he was trying hard to be understanding, but it wasn't something he was much of an expert about. "No, I'm fine." She answered, knowing the images of that nightmare would linger. It was something she could worry about later. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

Inuyasha was hesitant to let the subject go. Kagome was obviously freaked out by her nightmare. She usually bounced right back after complaining about dreaming she'd failed her modern school lessons, nothing had ever had her hands shaking like they did now as they curled into her blanket. Inuyasha didn't have the greatest communication skills, but if something was bothering Kagome this much, it was more than worth a shot.

He never got the chance to argue. A sharp, deafening crack reverberated through the village from the east, cutting all conversation and drawing their attention. Inuyasha rose to his feet and pulled back the mat door to gaze out into the empty night. "Thunder?"

Kagome slowly shook her head, the same sound echoing in her head from her nightmare. "Gunfire."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

As always, tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome.


End file.
